Lauren Francis Baker

Three franchisees (Versatile, Everest, and Premium Host) sought to rescind their franchise agreements with Paramount Fine Foods under the Arthur Wishart Act, alleging the franchisor failed to provide compliant disclosure documents.

The court found that Paramount was not exempt from its disclosure obligations.

However, Versatile and Everest failed to prove on a balance of probabilities that the disclosure documents they received were fatally flawed, so their rescission claims were dismissed.

Premium Host successfully established that Paramount failed to disclose material financial information in a single document, rendering its disclosure fatally flawed.

Premium Host's rescission was deemed valid, and it was awarded statutory compensation against the franchisor and its associates, including Paramount Leasing and the Manager of Franchising.

The appellants, several Turtle Jack's restaurant franchisees, appealed a motion judge's order that set aside an Associate Judge's decision to add a new defendant (11554891 Canada Inc.) and allow amendments to their statement of claim regarding supplier contributions to an advertising fund.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, agreeing with the motion judge that adding the new party and allowing the amendments would constitute an abuse of process due to inordinate delay, the dubious nature of the claims, and the fact that the amendments introduced new, statute-barred claims.

The court also upheld the costs award against the appellants.

The plaintiffs brought an omnibus motion for certification, settlement approval, notice approval, discontinuance against one defendant, and class counsel fee approval in a proposed class action regarding cancelled educational trips due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The defendants, travel insurers, agreed to pay 100% of the claims submitted by the class members.

The court granted certification for settlement purposes, approved the settlement as fair and reasonable, approved the notice plan nunc pro tunc, allowed the discontinuance against Arch Insurance, and approved class counsel fees of $435,000 to be paid by the defendants in addition to the class compensation.

Following the dismissal of the plaintiff's motion for injunctive relief, the successful defendants sought costs on a substantial indemnity basis.

The plaintiff argued that the defendants' costs were excessive and that their conduct warranted a denial of costs.

The court found that while the plaintiff's motion was ill-conceived, its conduct was not reprehensible enough to justify elevated costs.

Applying the factors under Rule 57.01, the court awarded the defendants partial indemnity costs in the amount of $50,995.12.

The plaintiff, Lightbox Enterprises Ltd., moved for interlocutory injunctive orders against the defendant, 2708227 Ontario Inc., concerning their business relationship involving retail cannabis stores.

Lightbox alleged breach of license and service agreements and misuse of confidential information and trademarks ("Dutch Love""Hobo Cannabis"). 2708227 Ontario Inc. counter-claimed, asserting the relationship was a franchise governed by the Arthur Wishart Act and that Lightbox failed to provide disclosure, entitling 2708227 Ontario Inc. to rescind the agreements.

The court dismissed Lightbox's motion for injunctive relief, finding no contractual basis for the primary relief sought, insufficient evidence to establish a strong prima facie case for breach of confidence, no irreparable harm, and that the balance of convenience favored the defendant.

The applicants, six individuals with ongoing litigation against the respondent, brought an application under s. 140 of the Courts of Justice Act to declare the respondent a vexatious litigant and stay all her proceedings.

The respondent had initiated over 50 proceedings, many involving allegations of sexual assault and defamation against former romantic partners.

Despite finding that the respondent exhibited many badges of vexatious conduct, the court dismissed the application, emphasizing the importance of allowing civil claims of sexual assault to be adjudicated on their merits rather than being summarily stayed.