Samuel Wilson Johnston

The court granted the defendants leave to amend their Amended Statement of Defence, finding that the proposed amendments—alleging an oral agreement regarding a book of business and constructive dismissal—would not cause non-compensable prejudice to the plaintiff.

The decision reviews the legal test for amendments under Rule 26.01 of the Rules of Civil Procedure, emphasizing that amendments should be allowed unless they cause injustice not compensable by costs or adjournment, are not tenable at law, or lack sufficient particulars.

The court found that the delay in seeking the amendments was explained and did not result in actual prejudice to the plaintiff, and that the amendments were based on facts already known to the parties.

On the first day of trial, the Plaintiff brought a motion seeking the production of redacted portions of an email and a non-disclosed attachment, which the Defendants claimed were protected by solicitor-client privilege.

The court found that the Defendants' use of boilerplate language for Schedule "B" in their affidavits of documents did not comply with Rule 30.03(2)(b) of the Rules of Civil Procedure, as it failed to provide sufficient information to challenge the privilege claim.

The court ordered the Defendants to immediately provide a detailed description of the documents, including their nature, sender, receiver, and the specific grounds for the claimed privilege, to enable the Plaintiff to properly assess and potentially challenge the privilege or argue implied waiver.