Thomas Gold Pettingill LLP is pleased to provide this online resource to our clients. Below is a searchable database of key cases impacting the defence of commercial and tort litigation. Assembled by Sarah Jones, Natasha O'Toole, and Chris Schnarr, each case is reviewed, briefly summarized, and categorized for easy access.
The Plaintiff brought a summary judgment motion seeking payment for repair costs of a rented vehicle that was damaged in an accident while it was being rented by the Defendant. The Defendant attempted to rely on the damage waiver in the rental car contract on the basis that the rental vehicle was allegedly stolen during...
Justice Perell held that HBC's failure to make payment each week was not a renewing breach of contract perpetually being repeated each week. Rather, once payment was not made, HBC was immediately liable to be sued for default in payment. However, Justice Perell went on to find that there was also a breach of the...
At issue on this appeal was the application of the "appropriate means" element of the discoverability test under the Limitations Act. Intact Insurance moved for summary judgment to dismiss the action of the Respondent for indemnification under a commercial insurance policy for losses arising from a flood to its business premises. Intact argued that the...
In this case, a member of the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association ("OTLA") sent a message to other OTLA members that made allegedly defamatory comments about a doctor retained by an insurer in a claim brought pursuant to the Statutory Accidents Benefits Schedule. The motion judge dismissed the doctor's claim against the lawyer on the basis...
In this case, Master Sugunasiri determined that the Rules of Civil Procedure require the parties to provide some detail as to the nature of the documents that they will produce prior to discovery. Master Sugunasiri noted that while "the extent of the detail and the nature of the categories of the proposed disclosure will vary...
The Plaintiff brought a motion to add TTC Insurance Company Limited ("TTCICL") as a Defendant in order to assert a claim for unidentified motorist coverage. At issue was whether the Plaintiff's claim against TTCICL was statute barred pursuant to the Limitations Act. Justice Chiappetta concluded that the limitation period would begin the day after the...
The Plaintiffs brought a motion for leave to amend their Statement of Claim to allege, amongst other things, an alternative claim for damages for spoliation. Master MacAfee allowed the amendments on the basis that the tort of spoliation was an open question in Ontario and that the Plaintiffs were seeking to add an alternative claim...
The moving defendant on this summary judgment motion is a pub. Its co-defendants were patrons of the pub, who were ejected as a result of intoxication and improper behaviour. Soon after their departure from the pub, the co-defendants were involved in a physical altercation with the plaintiff in a nearby parking lot, resulting in personal...
The Plaintiff sustained an ankle fracture in a motor vehicle accident. Following the trial, Justice McKelvey found that the Plaintiff's potential future inability to work could be considered in determining threshold. Justice McKelvey held that the Plaintiff suffered a permanent and serious impairment in relation to his employment, but not in relation to his usual...
In this action, two of the three Defendants/Third Parties had settled. The settlement did not involve the remaining party and there were no terms in the settlement to limit continuing litigation in the nature of a Pierringer agreement. Toronto Hydro settled with the Plaintiffs and continued its claims against Gonte and the City. Subsequently, Toronto...
The elderly plaintiff slipped and fell on an elevated walkway adjacent to the parking lot of a seniors' centre owned and operated by the defendant. The plaintiff attributed the cause of her fall to the absence of a yellow caution line demarcating the walkway from the parking lot. The plaintiff's human factors expert concluded that...
In this case of historic sexual abuse, the plaintiff was sexually assaulted from 1978 to 1980 by his elementary school teacher. At the time of trial he was 51 years old. He led evidence that he suffered from serious mental health problems as a result of the abuse, including depression, PTSD, and anti-social behaviour. He...
The Plaintiff commenced a law suit after he was denied acceptance to the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Medicine. On a motion to strike, the university was successful in striking the Plaintiff's entire Statement of Claim without leave to amend. Justice Brown held that the "pith and substance" of the claim was an academic dispute....
The subject of this action was an MVA which involved a family of five. The mother and two oldest sons sustained injuries as a result of the accident. Tragically, their five month old son/brother died as a result of the collision. The Defendant admitted liability, but disputed threshold. Justice Hockin found that all of the...
The Plaintiff was unable to advise whether her injuries from previous accidents had resolved by the time of the subject MVA. Justice Sosna held that prodution of the discovery transcripts from the Plaintiff's earlier MVA actions was necessary to assess the extent to which the Plaintiff's current complaints overlapped with her injury complaints prior to...
In denying the Plaintiffs' motion to discontinue the action as against certain defendants, the court commented on the distinction between the effect of a discontinuance and a dismissal of an action. Pursuant to the Rules of Civil Procedure, the discontinuance of all or part of an action is not a defence to a subsequent action,...
This appeal dealt with whether the lessor, Coast Capital, was insured for third party liability. 62254641 Canada Inc., a trucking company, leased a tractor from a third party. Old Republic issued a Certificate of Automobile Insurance which listed that vehicle. The Certificate included a description of lessors which stated "as per OPCF 5 Forms". An...
On appeal, Enterprise argued that the applications judge erred in finding that the driver of the rental car (a listed driver under her father's OAP1) was not "an insured named in the contract" and/or a "driver named in the contract" such that the priority provisions of s. 277(1.1)(2) of the Insurance Act would apply. The...
Summary judgment is not likely to be granted if the motions judge has any doubt as to whether a defendant can be found even 1% liable on the available evidence and case law. In this case, the plaintiff and defendant sisters were transporting items into the home of the defendant sister's boyfriend. The plaintiff fell...
The minor Plaintiffs entered an unsecured garage property and stole a vehicle. The vehicle was subsequently involved in an accident and Plaintiff J suffered a catastrophic brain injury. At trial, it was found that the garage owed a duty of care to J. This finding was upheld by the Ontario Court of Appeal. However, the...
