Hendrik Thomas Nieuwland

The plaintiff, EllisDon Residential Inc., sought an injunction against Limen Group Const. (2019) Ltd. to resume work and against Defendant Unions for inducing breach of contract and interfering with economic relations.

The defendants argued the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) had exclusive jurisdiction over the dispute.

The court applied the Weber test, finding the essential character of the dispute related to labour relations and the interpretation of collective agreements, falling within the OLRB's exclusive jurisdiction.

The court dismissed the injunction motion and stayed the action, deferring to the OLRB.

This appeal addressed whether the trial judge erred in awarding eight months' damages for wrongful dismissal.

The appellant argued the trial judge improperly considered the respondent's prior service and the time it took him to find new employment.

The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial judge's decision, finding the eight-month notice period reasonable and within an acceptable range, emphasizing deference to the trial judge's assessment and the holistic application of Bardal principles.

The appeal was dismissed.

The plaintiff, Mohawk Ford Sales (1996) Limited (MF), brought a motion for leave to amend its Statement of Claim to plead new causes of action and related amendments concerning alleged misconduct by the defendant, Marc Jewiss.

The defendants argued the proposed amendments were statute-barred by the Limitations Act, asserting MF had discovered the claims earlier than alleged.

The court found that MF rebutted the presumption of actual knowledge at the time of the alleged conduct and provided a reasonable explanation for the delay in discovering the additional claims through internal reviews.

The court granted leave to amend the Statement of Claim, allowing the defendants to plead additional limitations defences.

An appeal of a wrongful dismissal judgment where the trial judge awarded an investment banker 18 months' reasonable notice damages following his dismissal without cause due to the closure of his employer's Mergers & Acquisitions division.

The principal issue on appeal concerned whether damages should include the deferred portions of the employee's bonus (60% of annual bonuses paid as notional shares that would vest over time).

The appellants also challenged the trial judge's awards for vacation pay, prejudgment interest, and costs.

The Court of Appeal upheld the trial judge's decision in all respects.

The Plaintiff, David Bain, sought costs and pre-judgment interest following a successful wrongful dismissal trial against UBS Securities Canada Inc. and UBS Securities LLC, where he recovered over $2.5 million.

The court, applying Rule 57.01 factors and the principle of proportionality, fixed partial indemnity costs for the Plaintiff at $225,000 plus HST of $29,250 and disbursements of $15,000, totaling $269,250.

The court also determined that pre-judgment interest should be calculated on a lump sum basis, awarding $122,756.03, given the Defendants' failure to provide salary continuance or a bonus upon termination.

David Bain, a Managing Director, Head of Canadian M&A at UBS, was terminated without cause after 14 years of service.

He claimed damages for wrongful dismissal, including an extended notice period, unpaid bonuses for 2012 and a stub period in 2013, vacation pay, benefits, referral fees, and mitigation expenses.

The court found the appropriate notice period to be 18 months, determined that bonuses were an integral part of his compensation, and that UBS failed to exercise its discretion fairly in denying bonuses due to his termination.

The court awarded damages based on salary and bonuses, as well as other claimed expenses.

The action against UBS Securities LLC was dismissed.

The plaintiff, FLS Transportation Services Inc., sought an interim injunction against former employees and their new employer, Charger Logistics Inc., to restrain them from working for a competitor, soliciting clients and employees, and misusing confidential information.

The court applied the three-part test for an interlocutory injunction (serious issue to be tried, irreparable harm, balance of convenience) and also considered the "clean hands" doctrine.

The court found that FLS failed to establish a strong prima facie case for breach of restrictive covenants, breach of confidence, or fiduciary duty, largely due to FLS's own prior statements in other proceedings that the information was not confidential.

Furthermore, FLS failed to demonstrate irreparable harm, and the balance of convenience favoured the defendants.

The motion was dismissed, also noting that FLS's conduct in misrepresenting the court's order to a client constituted a failure to come to court with "clean hands."

The plaintiffs, having achieved partial success against individual "HOPE defendants" for breach of loyalty but failing entirely against "Carpenter defendants" for interference with economic interests, sought substantial costs.

The defendants, having largely succeeded, proposed the plaintiffs pay a portion of their costs or that each party bear their own.

The court, emphasizing proportionality and the modest damages awarded against the HOPE defendants, ordered that each party bear their own costs, finding this outcome to be fair and proportionate given the complex "turf warfare" between unions and the disparate success against different defendant groups.

The plaintiff brokerage firm moved under Rule 25.11 of the Rules of Civil Procedure to strike several paragraphs of the defendants’ statement of defence as scandalous, frivolous, vexatious, or non‑compliant with pleading requirements.

The impugned allegations described a toxic workplace environment and managerial conduct said to have forced the individual defendants to submit resignation letters, and also alleged the action was brought for an improper purpose amounting to abuse of process.

The court held that most of the contested paragraphs were relevant to the central issue of whether the defendants voluntarily resigned or were effectively dismissed and therefore were necessary to allow a full defence.

Allegations relating to the plaintiff’s motive were also permitted because they supported a pleaded abuse of process defence.

Only one sentence describing the workplace atmosphere as widely known in the community was struck as irrelevant and included merely for colour.

The defendants appealed a master's order compelling answers and document production arising from an examination for discovery in a commercial dispute involving alleged misuse of confidential information and solicitation of a former employer’s client.

The defendants argued the production order was based on unsubstantiated pleadings, speculation regarding misuse of confidential information, and the discredited doctrine of inevitable disclosure.

The court held that relevance for discovery is determined by the pleadings and that the allegations in the statement of claim sufficiently grounded the requested discovery.

The master properly exercised discretion in balancing proportionality and determining that the information sought was relevant.

The appeal was dismissed.

The plaintiff brought a discovery motion seeking an order compelling a former employee to answer refused questions and produce documents relating to services provided to a former client after joining a competitor.

The claim alleged breach of confidence and misuse of confidential information following the departure of senior employees who subsequently serviced the same client at the competing firm.

The court applied the relevance principles governing examinations for discovery under Rules 30.03 and 31.06 of the Rules of Civil Procedure and considered proportionality under Rule 29.2.03.

The court found the requests were not a fishing expedition because the pleadings contained specific allegations and there was circumstantial evidence supporting the line of inquiry.

The refused questions were ordered to be answered and related documents produced, subject to redaction of irrelevant commercially sensitive information.