Daniel Hassell

The plaintiff, having partially succeeded in her wrongful dismissal action, sought costs.

The defendant argued its earlier offer to settle engaged Rule 49.10, entitling it to costs from the offer date.

The court found the defendant's offer did not trigger Rule 49.10 due to an uncertain release condition, following D'Anscenzo v. Nichols.

Despite divided success, the plaintiff was deemed the successful party.

However, due to significant divided success (failure to prove damages for loss of book of business) and the plaintiff's rejection of a near-mirror offer, her costs were significantly reduced.

The court awarded the plaintiff 30% of her partial indemnity costs, totaling $72,000.00.

The plaintiff, a 54-year-old investment advisor with 24 years of service, was dismissed without cause.

During discovery, the defendant learned the plaintiff had copied confidential client emails to a personal USB key and alleged after-acquired cause.

The court found the misconduct was a lapse in judgment that did not warrant dismissal.

The court awarded a 24-month notice period and damages for lost commissions.

However, the court dismissed the plaintiff's claims for damages for the lost opportunity to sell her book of business, finding she failed to prove she would have retired and sold it during the notice period, and dismissed her claim for bad faith damages.

The plaintiffs sued two former employees for breach of employment agreements, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of implied duties of loyalty and good faith, and conversion after they left to work for a competitor.

The court found that the non-competition clauses in the employment agreements were ambiguous and overly broad, and therefore unenforceable.

The court also found that the employees were not fiduciaries.

While one employee breached his implied duty of loyalty and his obligation to safeguard confidential information by forwarding company documents to his personal email and doing work for a competitor while still employed, the plaintiffs failed to prove that these breaches caused any damages.

The action was dismissed against one employee, and the other was ordered to pay $1 in nominal damages.

This is a costs endorsement from the Court of Appeal for Ontario concerning an appeal brought by K. Matthew Hoang against Mann Engineering Ltd. et al.

The Court of Appeal awarded costs of the appeal to the respondents in the amount of $15,000, inclusive of disbursements and all applicable taxes.