The moving co-defendant sought leave to amend its defence to assert crossclaims for contribution and indemnity against a co-defendant arising from an inmate slip-and-fall claim at a correctional institution.
The court held that all substantive aspects of the proposed crossclaim were claims for contribution and indemnity governed by ss. 4, 5 and 18 of the Limitations Act, 2002, including the contractual additional-insured theory.
Although the court concluded that the contribution and indemnity limitation period is subject to discoverability, the moving party failed to provide sufficient evidence of due diligence to rebut the presumption that the claim was discovered when it was served with the main action, or at the latest by discovery when the accident location was pinpointed.
The proposed crossclaim was therefore statute-barred and the motion was dismissed, with costs payable forthwith to the responding co-defendant.
