The appellant, a real estate broker, was improperly suspended and expelled from the respondent real estate board.
He brought an action seeking reinstatement and damages for loss of income, humiliation, and suffering.
The Superior Court quashed the expulsion but dismissed the damages claim as prescribed under the two-year limitation for offences and quasi-offences.
The Court of Appeal affirmed.
The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the appeal, holding that the relationship between a voluntary association and its members is contractual.
Therefore, the damages claim for the improper expulsion is subject to a thirty-year prescription period, though damages for separate tortious acts like bomb threats remain prescribed.
