Daniel Rabinowitz

Inzola Group Limited appealed a trial decision dismissing its claims for breach of contract and bias against the City of Brampton regarding a multi-million-dollar construction Request for Proposals (RFP).

Inzola was disqualified for breaching RFP terms, including failing to sign a confidentiality agreement, communicating outside the sole point of contact, and making public disclosures to the media.

The Court of Appeal upheld the trial judge's findings that Inzola's breaches were fundamental and threatened the integrity of the RFP process.

The court also rejected Inzola's argument that the City breached a duty of fair and equal treatment by handling a different alleged breach by another bidder (Dominus) differently, finding Dominus's breach inconsequential compared to Inzola's.

The appeal on liability was dismissed, and leave to appeal costs was denied.

Following a 38-day trial where the plaintiff's claim was dismissed, the successful defendant sought costs of over $2.2 million on a partial indemnity basis, but argued for substantial indemnity costs from the date the plaintiff amended its pleadings to allege bias and conspiracy.

The court denied substantial indemnity costs, finding the plaintiff's allegations were not made recklessly or without evidentiary foundation.

The court upheld the defendant's significant e-discovery disbursements as reasonable but ordered the defendant to produce redacted dockets for the plaintiff's review before finalizing the fee award.

The plaintiff, a construction company, sued the defendant municipality after being disqualified from a Request for Proposals (RFP) process for a City Hall expansion.

The plaintiff alleged that the municipality acted in bad faith and with bias when it disqualified the plaintiff for refusing to sign a confidentiality agreement and for communicating directly with City Council.

The Superior Court of Justice dismissed the action, finding that the plaintiff had breached the clear terms of the RFP and that the municipality's decision to disqualify the plaintiff was fair, made in good faith, and based on the advice of an independent fairness advisor.

The court also held that even if the municipality had breached the RFP, the plaintiff would only be entitled to reliance damages, not expectation damages for lost profits.