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March 28, 2012

Invasion of Privacy Recognized as a Tort

The Ontario Court of Appeal has recognized a tort of invasion of privacy.

In Jones v. Tsige, 2012 ONCA 32 (C.A.), the plaintiff discovered the defendant had been surreptitiously looking at her banking records. The parties worked at the same bank and Tsige was in a relationship with Jones’ ex-husband. Despite these connections, the parties did not know each other. Tsige claimed she had a financial dispute with Jones’ ex-husband and was accessing the account to confirm whether he was paying child support to Jones. Tsige was contrite and apologized for her actions.

A motions court judge dismissed the action on a motion for summary judgment on the basis that Ontario does not recognize a tort of invasion of privacy. The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal.

Justice Sharpe cited Professor Prosser in setting out four categories of invasion of privacy:
1. Intrusion upon the plaintiff’s seclusion or solitude, or into his private affairs.
2. Public disclosure of embarrassing private facts about the plaintiff.
3. Publicity which places the plaintiff in a false light in the public eye.
4. Appropriation, for the defendant’s advantage, of the plaintiff’s name or likeness.

This case falls within the “intrusion on seclusion” category. In order to make out a cause of action, a plaintiff must show:
1. an unauthorized intrusion;
2. that the intrusion was highly offensive to the reasonable person;
3. the matter intruded upon was private; and,
4. the intrusion caused anguish and suffering.

Justice Sharpe held that damages for intrustion on seclusion should be modest, and up to the range of $20,000. The quantum will depend on factors such as the nature of the intrusion, the effect on the plaintiff, the relationship between the parties, distress or embarassment suffered by the plaintiff, and the conduct of the parties, including any apology by the defendant. Justice Sharpe granted summary judgment to Jones in the amount of $10,000.

Will we see the floodgates open with these types of claims now? Privacy seems to be a “hot button” issue right now, and it seems that we may see more cases involving breaches of privacy in the future.

- Tara Pollitt

March 21, 2012

Police Personnel File Not Subject to Production

Andrushko v. Ontario, [2011] O.J. No. 3693 (Div. Ct.)

This decision will be of interest to those defending claims against police officers.

The plaintiff was suing for wrongful arrest and assault. He sought production of the officer’s personnel file on the basis that it might reveal a pattern of using unnecessary and excessive force. The Crown resisted on the basis that Part V of the Police Services Act contains a statutory prohibition against production. The motions court judge ordered production.

Part V of the Police Services Act contains the following provisions:

69.(8) No person shall be required to testify in a civil proceeding with regard to information obtained in the course of his or her duties, except at a hearing held under this Part. 1997, c. 8, s. 35.

(9) No document prepared as the result of a complaint is admissible in a civil pro-ceeding, except at a hearing held under this Part. 1997, c. 8, s. 35.
(10) No statement made during an attempt at informal resolution of a complaint is admissible in a civil proceeding, including a proceeding under subsection 64(15) or 65(17) or a hearing held under this Part, except with the consent of the person who made the statement.

...
1. Every person engaged in the administration of this Part shall preserve secrecy with respect to all information obtained in the course of his or her duties under this Part and shall not communicate such information to any other person except,

(a) as may be required in connection with the administration of this Act and the regulations;
(b) to his or her counsel;
(c) as may be required for law enforcement purposes; or
(d) with the consent of the person, if any, to whom the information re-lates.


The Divisional Court overturned the lower court decision. It held that any documents prepared as a result of a Part V complaint are not subject to production or admissible in a civil proceeding. If any documents in the personnel file were not prepared directly as a result of a Part V complaint, they would not be protected by its confidentiality provisions.

- Tara Pollitt

March 14, 2012

Costs - Reasonableness of Disbursements

Hamfler v. 1682787 Ontario Inc., [2011] O.J. No. 6190 (S.C.J.)

This is a useful case with respect to recovery of disbursements for expert reports following a trial. Justice Edwards applied a deep discount on several of the plaintiff's doctors’ and accountant’s fees for reports and trial preparation.

The jury awarded the plaintiff $188,000 in damages. He sought $87,600 in fees and $93,500 in disbursements. The main issue was the reasonableness of the disbursements.

Justice Edwards quoted Justice Borins in Moon v. Sher (2004), 246 D.L.R. (4th) 440 (C.A.) in holding that “a disbursement will be recoverable provided that it is both reasonable, not excessive and has been charged to the client." The following factors should be taken into account in determining reasonableness:

1. Did the evidence of the expert make a contribution to the case, and was it relevant to the issues?
2. Was the evidence of marginal value or was it crucial to the ultimate outcome at trial?
3. Was the cost of the expert or experts disproportionate to the economic value of the issue at risk?
4. Was the evidence of the expert duplicated by other experts called by the same party? Was the report of the expert overkill or did it provide the court with the necessary tools to properly conduct its assessment of a material issue?
(paragraph 17).

- Tara Pollitt

March 7, 2012

Costs in Cases Where There are Multiple Defendants

Lawson v. Vierson, 2012 ONCA 25 (C.A.)

How will a court apportion costs where both the plaintiff and a co-defendant fail to accept offers to settle/contribute?

Lawson was in two motor vehicle accidents seven months apart. The actions were consolidated and proceeded to trial. The first defendant, Hart, offered to settle for $300,000. The second defendants, the Viersons, offered to settle or contribute by making a $100,000 payment to Lawson. Lawson’s offer was $1,250,000.

The jury found the injuries suffered were separate and distinct, and made separate damages assessments for each accident. The net amount awarded against the Viersons was $7,926.71 and $344,260.37 against Hart. The trial judge awarded Lawson costs of $482,000 apportioned 35% against the Viersons and 65% against Hart. The Viersons appealed.

At issue was the interplay of the costs consequences of r. 49.10 and r. 49.11. Rule 49.11 provides that where there are multiple defendants “alleged to be jointly or jointly and severally liable to the plaintiff in respect of a claim and rights of contribution or indemnity may exist between the defendants, the costs consequences prescribed by rule 49.10 do not apply to an offer to settle”.

The Court of Appeal held:

[49] In the circumstances of this case, it is significant that the combined Viersens and Hart offers exceeded the Lawsons’ recovery. The reason that the combined total exceeded the Lawsons’ recovery was because of the Viersens offer. When the Viersens offer is viewed in context rather than in isolation, it is therefore apparent that the offer was a genuine and generous offer to settle and, particularly when taken together with the Hart offer, complied with the spirit of rule 49.10. In these circumstances, the Viersens offer is the type of offer that, as contemplated by rule 49.13, ought to be given considerable weight in arriving at a costs award.

[50] Further, the trial judge appears to have discounted the fact the Viersens offer far exceeded the amount of the award made against them. Although the allegation of joint and several liability meant that pursuant to rule 49.11 the presumption of costs consequences in rule 49.10 did not apply, it would not, as the trial judge found, have been “impossible” or “negligent” for Ms. Lawson to have accepted the Viersens offer. The claim of joint and several liability that made the Viersens offer non-compliant with rule 49.11 was not made out at trial. In light of the jury’s award, the Viersens offer can, therefore, only be seen as having been very reasonable. Contrary to the view expressed by the trial judge, it would have been no more impossible or negligent for Ms. Lawson to have accepted the Viersens offer, than for any plaintiff to accept an offer to settle for an amount substantially less than the amount claimed. Given the outcome at trial, an accurate assessment of Ms. Lawson’s claim was that there was no joint and several liability. As a result, accepting the Viersens offer would not have prejudiced the claim against Mr. Hart and, therefore, would have been the correct decision.

Justice Rouleau awarded costs against the Viersons up to the date their offer was served equal to 35% of Lawson’s costs incurred to the date of the offer. The Viersons were entitled to their partial indemnity costs from the date of their offer payable by Hart since their offer was also an offer to contribute.

Although this case may have somewhat unusual circumstances, I suggest that those defending cases where there are multiple defendants should take it into consideration when making offers.

- Tara Pollitt