Chloe Snider, Author at Arbitration Matters

October 27, 2023October 30, 2023

Ontario – Court defines arbitral record where arbitration not recorded – #787

In Reed v. Cooper-Gordon Ltd. et al, 2023 ONSC 5261, the Court granted in part the plaintiff’s motion for leave to appeal an employment and shareholder related arbitral award on a question of law under s. 45 of the Arbitration Act, 1991. The plaintiff’s claims were originally raised by way of action, then proceeded by arbitration. The plaintiff/claimant in the arbitration claimed, among other things, that the arbitrator had wrongly determined the notice period for pay in lieu of notice, overlooked certain claims for unpaid bonuses and RRSP contributions, and incorrectly valued his shares in the underlying arbitration relating to his exit from the defendant. The Court held that the arbitrator’s error in computing the notice period and his lack of reasons relating to certain claims justified granting leave to appeal. The Court denied leave on the remaining issues. Because the parties had not recorded the arbitration, the record was limited to pleadings filed in the Superior Court of Justice that defined the issues for arbitration, the parties’ arbitration agreement, the Arbitration Award and Costs Award, the shareholders’ agreement and the parties’ Partial Minutes of Settlement on a particular issue.

August 29, 2023August 28, 2023

Ontario – Stay granted: tort claims were in “pith and substance” contractual – #768

In Spasiw et al v. Quality Green Inc. et al, 2023 ONSC 4422, the Court granted the defendants’ motion to stay the action in favour of arbitration in the context of a shareholders dispute. The plaintiffs’ claims of fraudulent misrepresentation and oppression were “closely connected with and related to” the parties’ share purchase agreement and shareholders agreement and in “pith and substance” contractual.. Accordingly, the claims fell within the broad scope of the arbitration clauses contained in the parties’ two agreements.

August 3, 2023August 1, 2023

Ontario – Title of proceedings may be amended in recognition and enforcement proceeding – #760

IC2 Fund v Wires, 2023 ONSC 3879 addresses: (1) whether it is appropriate for a party seeking to enforce an international arbitral award to correct the title of proceedings in an enforcement proceeding where both abbreviated and formal names were used interchangeably in the arbitration; (2) whether an applicant using an abbreviated name has standing; and (3) whether a party resisting enforcement can do so on the basis of an arbitrator’s alleged partiality after such allegations were addressed in the arbitration, which decision was not challenged. Here, the applicant (the respondent in the arbitration) brought an application to enforce an arbitral award (the “Award”) relating to its costs of the arbitration. In the title of proceedings in the notice of application, the applicant used an abbreviated corporate name. In the absence of confusion around the party’s identity, including because the respondent (the applicant in the arbitration) had used both the formal and abbreviated names, the court granted leave to amend the notice of application to reflect the full corporate name and resolved the standing issue on the same basis. The court also recognized the Award, rejecting the allegations of partiality of the arbitrator. The respondent had previously made allegations in the arbitration about the arbitrator’s lack of impartiality, which were rejected. The respondent did not challenge this decision.

May 24, 2023May 24, 2023

Ontario – Peace River “arguable case” standard applies to ICAA stay motion – #739

Husky Food Importers & Distributors Ltd v JH Whittaker & Sons Limited and Star Marketing Ltd, 2023 ONCA 260 addresses the standard of proof that a party seeking a stay of proceedings under s. 9 of the International Commercial Arbitration Act, 2017, S.O. 2017, c. 2, Sch. 5 (“ICAA”) must meet in order to establish the existence of an arbitration agreement that grounds the stay of proceedings. The Court of Appeal found that Peace River Hydro Partners v Petrowest Corp, 2022 SCC 41 supersedes the stay analysis articulated in Haas v. Gunasekaram, 2016 ONCA 744.