Robert Sottile

A receiver appointed over Wynn Realty Corporation sought approval of a proposed distribution of recovered funds to the plaintiff and intervenors who initiated the receivership.

The insurance coverholder objected, asserting subrogated and assigned claims on behalf of the insurer for amounts paid to fraud victims under a mandatory consumer deposit insurance policy.

The court rejected both the subrogation claim and the assignment-based claim, finding that the common law prohibition against insurers suing their own insureds applies and cannot be circumvented through assignments.

However, the court determined that the proposed distribution improperly excluded other similarly situated consumers and directed that all known consumers be included in an equitable distribution.

The court considered whether to dismiss a bankruptcy application brought by Bioventus, LLC against Trindent Consulting Management International Inc. under section 43(7) of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, in light of Trindent’s prior U.S. Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

The court found that Canadian law allows for concurrent insolvency proceedings and that the statutory remedies under the BIA are not property of the debtor’s estate.

The motion to dismiss was denied, and the bankruptcy application may proceed.

The court considered whether Fluid Hose & Coupling Inc. was an insured under a builders’ risk insurance policy and thus immune from a subrogated action for property damage.

The court found that the policy’s broad language included Fluid Hose as a subcontractor, barring the action against it.

The court declined to award full indemnity costs, instead fixing costs on a partial indemnity basis.

The applicant sought to recognize and enforce a default judgment and several ancillary orders, including injunctions, made by a Florida court against the respondents regarding stolen cryptocurrency.

The respondents, who had evaded service in the Florida class action, did not appear.

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice validated service of the application and held that the Florida court properly assumed jurisdiction, the judgments were final, and no defences to enforcement applied.

The court ordered the recognition and enforcement of the Florida judgments, including the payment of the Canadian equivalent of US$8,888,788.76 and costs.

The appellant sought damages of approximately $1 million for losses sustained when a drainage pipe running underneath a floor installed by the respondent caused a flood in its warehouse.

The trial judge dismissed the negligence claim, finding that although the respondent damaged the drainage pipe by puncturing it with a stake used to brace concrete forms, the respondent nevertheless met the standard of care.

The appellant appealed, arguing the trial judge failed to consider contractual duties, erred in foreseeability analysis, and erred in not determining whether industry practice was itself negligent.

The Court of Appeal upheld the trial judge's decision, finding no error in the application of the standard of care, foreseeability analysis, or treatment of industry practice.

The plaintiff, Mabe Canada Inc., sued the defendant, United Floor Ltd., in negligence for approximately $1 million in damages caused by a flood in its warehouse.

The flood resulted from a damaged drainage pipe located beneath the concrete floor, which the plaintiff alleged was punctured by the defendant's stakes during floor installation in 2004.

The court found that the pipe was indeed damaged by the defendant's stakes.

However, the court concluded that the defendant met the applicable standard of care, as the general contractor (First Gulf) failed to adequately inform United Floor of the shallow and unusual location of the pipes, and industry practice did not require the defendant to proactively locate such unexpectedly shallow pipes.

Consequently, the plaintiff failed to prove negligence, and no damages were awarded.