Jennifer Patricia Corbett

The court determined costs following a 6-day trial where the plaintiff, Keith Cordeiro, was found to have stolen money from the defendant, Pinnacle Caterers Ltd., leading to his justifiable termination.

The defendant sought substantial indemnity costs, citing a Rule 49 offer to settle on a mutual walk-away basis, which the plaintiff repeatedly refused.

The plaintiff argued inability to pay and disproportionality of costs to the amounts in issue.

The court rejected these arguments, emphasizing the plaintiff's conscious decision to proceed to trial despite knowing the financial implications and the defendant's reasonable settlement offer.

The court awarded the defendant substantial indemnity costs, rounded down to an all-inclusive amount of $150,000, pursuant to Rule 49 and section 131 of the Courts of Justice Act.

This wrongful dismissal trial addressed whether the plaintiff, a system supervisor, stole money from the defendant catering company.

The defendant terminated the plaintiff for cause, alleging theft of cash payments.

The parties agreed that if theft was proven, just cause was established, and the defendant would receive $15,000 on its counterclaim; otherwise, the plaintiff would receive $29,827.53 for wrongful dismissal.

The court found that the plaintiff had indeed stolen $412.39 by manipulating the point-of-sale system to void cash transactions and transfer them to a "test check" to hide the theft.

The defendant's investigation, though not protracted, was deemed effective and accurate.

The plaintiff's claim for wrongful dismissal was dismissed, and the defendant's counterclaim for $15,000 was granted.