The plaintiff, George MacPherson, brought a motion to add Allan Star Roofing Ltd. and Ebrahim Khezri (Third Parties) as defendants to an action for injuries sustained from a fall off a roof.
The motion hinged on the discoverability principle under the Limitations Act, 2002.
The plaintiff argued he did not discover the identity or potential liability of the Third Parties until examinations for discovery and subsequent undertakings, which revealed Khezri's involvement as a worker and potential duties under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
The Third Parties contended that the plaintiff knew or ought to have known the material facts earlier and failed to exercise due diligence.
The court found an arguable cause of action in negligence based on the Third Parties' potential failure to report safety issues under OHSA.
Given the low evidentiary threshold for demonstrating due diligence, the plaintiff was granted leave to add the Third Parties as defendants.
Costs were fixed at $5,000 to be paid by the defendants to the plaintiff, in the cause.
