Victoria Rochon

The plaintiff environmental remediation company sued the defendant property owner for $157,941.43 in unpaid invoices.

The defendant counterclaimed for $650,000, alleging the plaintiff over-remediated the property to a higher environmental standard than necessary.

The court found the property was highly contaminated due to a broken sewer pipe and lack of interceptor maintenance by the defendant's tenant.

The court accepted the plaintiff's evidence that the extensive remediation was required and dismissed the over-remediation counterclaim.

Judgment was granted for the plaintiff for the full amount claimed, plus contractual interest of 26.7% per annum based on the parties' course of dealing.

Following a fire in a residential complex, the landlords refused to allow tenants to return to their units despite the City of Sarnia clearing the units for occupancy.

The Landlord and Tenant Board found the landlords had illegally locked out the tenants, substantially interfered with their reasonable enjoyment, and engaged in harassment.

The Board awarded damages and imposed administrative fines totalling $525,000.

The landlords appealed and sought judicial review on several grounds, including procedural fairness, damages awards, and the quantum of the fines.

The Divisional Court dismissed the appeals and applications for judicial review, except for the issue of naming the principal of the corporate landlord as a 'landlord' personally, which was remitted to the Board due to a lack of procedural fairness.