Mark R. Frederick

The applicants, engineering consultants, sought a declaration that they were entitled to a defence and indemnity from the respondent insurer under a construction insurance policy for underlying actions alleging negligence and nuisance arising from a shoring system design.

The insurer denied coverage based on a professional services exclusion.

The court dismissed the application, finding that the nuisance claims were based on acts arising out of the rendering of professional services, and therefore the exclusion clause clearly and unambiguously applied to preclude the duty to defend.

The plaintiffs in a proposed Ontario class action brought a motion seeking mandatory and restrictive injunctions against a class action administrator, class counsel in a certified Alberta class proceeding, and a defendant manufacturer.

The motion arose after an Alberta class action concerning allegedly defective oral contraceptives proceeded to certification and settlement discussions, while the Ontario action had been discontinued as a class proceeding and converted into a joinder action for claimants opting out of the Alberta case.

The plaintiffs objected to a letter sent by the Alberta action administrator suggesting that opt-out forms might have been submitted without the recipients’ knowledge.

The court criticized the language of the letter and the involvement of opposing counsel in its drafting but held that no actual harm had occurred and that the Ontario court lacked jurisdiction over several of the actors.

The motion for injunctive relief was dismissed.