Shawn Laubman

The defendants brought a motion to strike portions of the plaintiffs' Amended Statement of Claim, arguing the claims lacked particularity, disclosed no reasonable cause of action, and that the oppression claims should have been brought as a derivative action.

The dispute involved a family-owned real estate business.

The court dismissed the motion, finding that the pleadings provided sufficient particulars and that it was not plain and obvious that the plaintiff's oppression claims would fail, particularly given the context of a closely-held family corporation where personal and derivative claims may overlap.

The plaintiffs were granted leave to amend certain paragraphs to provide additional facts.

The plaintiffs brought an urgent motion for the return of confidential information held by their former employee, the defendant, on her personal computer.

The defendant had been terminated and was sued for allegedly stealing over $400,000, while she counterclaimed for wrongful termination.

The parties agreed to have an independent IT expert copy and delete the confidential information, but disputed whether the expert should image the entire hard drive for preservation and whether the defendant should swear an affirmation confirming all confidential documents were produced.

The court ordered that the hard drive be imaged and preserved by an independent third party to prevent future disputes, and required the defendant to provide a sworn confirmation.