Jorge Pineda

This endorsement addresses costs submissions following a decision on competing pleading motions in a class action.

The plaintiffs were substantially successful in their motion to amend pleadings, while the defendants' parallel motion to strike was largely unsuccessful.

Despite the plaintiffs' success, the court declined to award costs to either party, citing the public importance of the litigation, which involves exploring the boundaries of constitutionally protected protest rights versus the rights of individual citizens to seek compensation for disruption.

This motion addressed the form of the Statement of Claim in a proposed class proceeding related to the "Freedom Convoy" protest in Ottawa.

The plaintiffs sought to amend their claim, while a group of defendants moved to strike it.

The court found that the proposed Statement of Claim disclosed plausible causes of action for private and public nuisance, and joint liability, including for punitive damages.

The court largely allowed the plaintiffs' motion to amend, granting leave to issue a further fresh as amended statement of claim and to add new defendants, but ordered the removal of certain paragraphs deemed extraneous, inflammatory, or evidentiary.

The defendants' motion to strike was largely dismissed.

The applicants brought an application challenging the constitutionality of Ontario's COVID-19 proof of vaccination requirement (Ont.

Reg. 364/20) under sections 2(a), 7, and 15 of the Charter.

The applicants argued that the regulation, which required patrons to provide proof of vaccination to enter certain businesses, violated their freedom of religion, right to life, liberty, and security of the person, and equality rights.

The Superior Court of Justice dismissed the application, finding no Charter contraventions.

The court held that the regulation did not interfere with the applicants' religious beliefs, did not compel medical treatment or engage the right to security of the person, and did not discriminate based on religion or disability.

Following a successful defence in a wrongful dismissal trial, the defendant sought costs of approximately $750,000.

The plaintiff argued for $500,000.

The court considered the factors under Rule 57.01, noting that while the electronic trial was efficient, both sides engaged in overkill and over-representation.

The court reduced the defendant's claimed fees slightly and awarded costs of $725,651.30 on a partial indemnity basis.

The plaintiff, a former Senior Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer of Royal Group, Inc., sued for wrongful dismissal, claiming approximately $6.6 million in damages.

The defendant employer argued cause for dismissal based on the plaintiff's involvement in two instances of serious misconduct: the "Vaughan West land flip" and the misappropriation of a "Premdor warrant." Both involved the plaintiff's participation in schemes where senior officers, including himself, made secret profits at the corporation's expense and failed to disclose these conflicts of interest to the independent board of directors.

The court found that the plaintiff, as a fiduciary and senior employee, breached his duties of loyalty, honesty, candour, and fidelity by facilitating the usurpation of corporate opportunities, taking corporate funds without proper authority, and actively participating in deceptive practices, including back-dating documents for tax purposes.

The court dismissed the plaintiff's action, concluding that his conduct constituted just cause for summary dismissal, emphasizing the strictness of fiduciary duties in public corporations.