Ontario Court Of Appeal Summaries (June 17 – 21, 2019)

Following are the summaries for this week's civil decisions of the Court of Appeal for Ontario.

First off, we would like to congratulate our firm's very own, David Greenwood, for the excellent result obtained in Mikelsteins v. Morrison Hershfield Limited. The Court dealt with the question of whether an employee who had been terminated was entitled to an increase in the value of shares that he held in the corporation, along with a share bonus, through the reasonable period of notice. The Court held that the terms of the Shareholders' Agreement alone govern the employee's rights regarding his shares, not the common law principle of reasonable notice. The employee received what he was contractually entitled to receive under the Shareholders' Agreement and the Employment Standards Act, 2000 had no application.

Another cases of interest this week is Third Eye Capital Corporation v. Ressources Dianor Inc./ Dianor Ressources Inc., where Court dealt with the question of whether a third party interest in land in the nature of a Gross Overriding Royalty could be extinguished by a vesting order granted in a receivership proceeding.

Lastly, for those who practice in the area of family law, you may wish to read the Court's summary of the procedural history in Beaver v. Hill, which was described at one point in time as a "procedural morass" and how the Court dealt with a recusal application.

Table of Contents

Civil Decisions

Hengeveld v. The Personal Insurance Company, 2019 ONCA 497

Keywords: Agency Law, Motor Vehicle Accident, Preservation Of Evidence, Spoliation, Third Party Claim, Reasonable Cause Of Action, Contribution and Indemnity, Contributory Negligence, Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 21.01(1)(b), Negligence Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. N.1, Adams v. Thompson, Berwick, Pratt & Partners, (1987), 15 B.C.L.R. (2d) 51 (C.A.)

Kagan v. Brown, 2019 ONCA 495

Keywords: Family Law, Parenting Schedule, Standard of Review, Expert Reports, Maximum Contact Principle, Palmer Criteria, Divorce Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. 3, s. 16(1), D'Angelo v. Barrett, 2016 ONCA 605, Goldman v. Kudelya, 2017 ONCA 300, Children's Aid Society of Owen Sound v. R.D. (2003), 2003 CanLII 21746 (ON CA)

Genstar Development Partnership v. The Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of the Diocese of Hamilton in Ontario, 2019 ONCA 506

Keywords: Specific Performance, Agreement of Purchase and Sale, Transfer Agreement, Discretion, Repurchase Option, Property Law, Successor, Transferee, Insufficient...