Michael Girard

The plaintiff accountant joined the defendant accounting firm under an unwritten resource-sharing or partnership arrangement.

After the relationship broke down, the plaintiff sued for unpaid compensation and the return of a capital contribution, while the defendants counterclaimed for misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty, and defamation.

The court found an implied agreement for compensation based on the parties' conduct and awarded the plaintiff $71,223 for unpaid 2014 compensation plus the return of her $40,000 capital contribution.

However, the court also found that the plaintiff defamed the defendants by calling them 'crooks' to a client, awarding the defendants $30,000 on their counterclaim.

The plaintiff commenced an intended class proceeding against the Crown arising from a criminal proceeding where his Charter rights were infringed due to an incompetent interpreter.

The Crown brought a motion to dismiss the action on the basis that the plaintiff failed to provide the requisite 60 days' written notice under s. 7(1) of the Proceedings Against the Crown Act.

The plaintiff argued that a release signed in relation to a costs settlement in the criminal matter, along with the application record and factum, constituted sufficient notice.

The court held that the documents did not provide sufficient particulars to identify the occasion out of which the civil claim arose, leaving the Crown to guess its potential liability.

The action was dismissed as a nullity.