Following the dismissal of the plaintiff's wrongful dismissal action, the defendants sought elevated costs of $10,500 based on an offer to settle and the plaintiff's unreasonable behaviour, including sending offensive emails.
The court found the offer to settle did not meet the timing requirements of Rule 14.07 and the offensive emails did not correlate to additional trial costs.
The court held that the individual defendant lawyer, represented by members of his current firm, was a self-represented litigant subject to the $500 costs cap under Rule 19.05, as he failed to prove an opportunity cost.
However, the defendant law firm was entitled to a reasonable representation fee under Rule 19.04.
The court awarded total costs of $3,051.95 to the defendants.
