B.C. Archives - Page 6 of 17 - Arbitration Matters

July 5, 2022July 14, 2022

British Columbia – Effect of consent orders staying proceedings in favour of arbitration – #636

Williams v. Audible Inc., 2022 BCSC 834 (“Audible”) is the second of two decisions by Justice Horsman extending stays of proceedings in favour of arbitration under s. 15 of the former Arbitration Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 55 in the context of class proceedings. The first, Williams v. Amazon.com Inc., 2020 BCSC 300 (the “Amazon Stay Decision”), concerned a separate class proceeding, brought by the same representative plaintiffs as in Audible, alleging similar causes of action, but against Amazon. That decision is under appeal. In this case, Justice Horsman granted the stay sought by Audible. Following the principles in Seidel v TELUS Communications Inc., 2011 SCC 15, the parties agreed to a consent stay of proceedings in favour of arbitration in respect of the plaintiff’s non-consumer protection legislation claims because of the arbitration clause in the relevant contracts. On this application, Justice Horsman found that, because the representative plaintiffs’ non-consumer claims were stayed by virtue of a consent order, there was no proceeding in which to advance the claims of the other possible class members, whose claims related to a period of time when Audible’s contracts did not contain arbitration clause. Therefore, she granted an extension of the stay of those proceedings to cover those claims too.

June 22, 2022June 27, 2022

Ontario – Costs in both arbitration and court guided by same principles – #630

In Electek Power Services Inc. v. Greenfield Energy Centre Limited Partnership, 2022 ONSC 2437, Justice Perell held that when awarding costs, the discretion of both an arbitrator and the court are the same: both are guided by reasonableness and the fair and reasonable expectations of the unsuccessful party.

June 20, 2022June 17, 2022

British Columbia – Application to stay amendments falters on attornment – #628

The case Hawrish v. Hawthorn, 2022 BCSC 849 concerned an application by the Defendants to stay amendments to pleadings on the basis that the parties had previously agreed to arbitrate those matters. The issue was whether the stay should be granted when the Defendants had already attorned to the Court’s jurisdiction over the original claim. The Chambers Judge, Justice Wilson, refused the stay application. He reasoned that the only issue was whether the stay application was brought in a timely manner. This, in turn, depended on whether the amendments raised new and discrete claims or whether they simply related to the original claims. Justice Wilson concluded that, even with the amendments, the dispute in “pith and substance” remained the same (para. 68). The amendments were “simply additional material facts” (para. 67). As a result, he found the Defendants had attorned to the Court’s jurisdiction regarding the matters raised in the amendments and the application for the stay was dismissed.

May 11, 2022May 10, 2022

British Columbia – Court sets aside arbitrator’s decision for breach of procedural fairness – #615

In Bedwell Bay Construction v. Ball, 2022 BCSC 559, Justice Giaschi granted a judicial review application to set aside an interim decision of an arbitrator (the “Arbitrator”) of the Residential Tenancy Branch (the “RTB”) and to remit the matter back to the RTB for redetermination de novo before a different arbitrator. In doing so, the Court accepted the petitioner’s argument that the arbitrator did not act fairly when it required the petitioner to present its case first (even though it did not have the burden of proof), and denied it the right to cross-examine and to provide reply evidence and submissions. The Court held that this amounted to breaches of the rules of natural justice and procedural fairness. These findings have relevance to commercial arbitrations.

May 5, 2022May 17, 2022

Ontario – Uber arbitration, and class action waiver not certified as common issue – #612

In Heller v. Uber Technologies Inc., 2022 ONSC 1997, Justice Perell dismissed a motion to certify as a common issue the enforceability of an Arbitration and Class Action Waiver Clause in the Uber standard form services agreement that members of the class signed. As a result, this issue will not be determined at a common issues trial. Class action members who did not exercise their right to opt out of the clause are still class members and may be able to negate the operation of the waiver at individual issues trials if the class action gets that far.

April 28, 2022April 26, 2022

B.C. – Appeal of award granted; arbitrator re-wrote parties’ contract – #611

In Grewal v Mann, 2022 BCSC 555, Justice Iyer allowed the plaintiff’s appeal of an arbitral award dated May 15, 2020, made pursuant to s. 31 of the former British Columbia Arbitration Act, RSBC 1996, c. 55. That provision permitted an appeal from an arbitral award to be brought before the Supreme Court if leave to appeal was granted. Justice Iyer held that the “reasonableness” standard of review applies to appeals of arbitral awards, while acknowledging that the appropriate standard of review is still undecided at the appellate level. She allowed the appeal and amended the award to provide that disputed funds held in trust were to be released to the plaintiff. She found that the arbitrator had not interpreted the parties Agreement, but rather had written an entirely new one.

March 31, 2022March 28, 2022

B.C. – Arbitration clause covered contract not tort claims – #600

In Harris v Isagenix International, 2022 BCSC 268, Justice Branch dismissed the defendants’ motion to stay a personal injury action in favour of arbitration, despite an arbitration clause in the parties’ contract. The plaintiff sought damages for personal injuries arising from her use of the defendants’ wellness products. She asserted that the defendants were negligent in the design, manufacture, distribution, marketing and supply of these products (“the Products”). She also relied upon the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act, S.B.C. 2004, c. 2 (“BPCPA”). The plaintiff was not only a consumer but also sold the products as part of the defendant’s marketing program. She signed two contracts as a result of which she became a “Preferred Customer” of the Products and, later, an “Associate” entitled to sell the products. She placed orders for the Products for herself while she was a “Preferred Customer” and for herself and others as an “Associate”. Therefore, she “wore two hats”. Justice Branch found that the arbitration clause in the applicable contract covered only potential contract claims, not tort claims. The plaintiff’s action was allowed to proceed.

March 28, 2022March 31, 2022

B.C. – Court recognizes/enforces Swiss award, rejecting public policy defence – #597

In Enrroxs Energy and Mining Group v Saddad, 2022 BCSC 285, Justice Crerar granted a petition to enforce a foreign arbitral award under the International Commercial Arbitration Act, RSBC 1996, c 233 (ICAA) and the Foreign Arbitral Awards Act, RSBC 1996, c 154 (FAAA). He rejected the respondent’s attempts to resist enforcement based on the public policy ground in subparagraph 36(1)(b)(ii) of the ICAA and art. V(2)(b) of the FAAA. Justice Crerar also rejected the respondent’s request to stay execution pending a valuation of certain assets that the petitioner had seized, which the responded complained could result in double recovery.

February 28, 2022May 4, 2022

B.C. – Arbitrator’s Analysis Must not let Factual Matrix Overwhelm Text of Contract – #588

In Grewal v. Mann, 2022 BCCA 30, the British Columbia Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal of an order granting leave to appeal an arbitral award. In doing so, the Court of Appeal confirmed the bounds of contractual interpretation, including the principle that the analysis must remain grounded in the text of the contract.

February 25, 2022May 4, 2022

BC- Decision not to make a decision on jurisdiction grounds, not a “decision” barred by “no appeal” provision – #587

In Terrace Community Forest LLP v Skeena Sawmills Ltd., 2022 BCCA 37, the Court of Appeal for British Columbia started its reasons with, “this appeal is about the meaning of the word or. It is also about the goals of legislated regimes and the role of courts in protecting the interests of non-parties to arbitration proceedings”. Section. 29(4) of the B.C. Arbitration Act, S.B.C. 2020, c. 2 provides that a subpoena issued by an arbitrator to a non-party can be set aside on an application “to the arbitral tribunal or the Supreme Court”. The parties to this court application disputed whether the word “or” was inclusive (A or B or both) or exclusive (A or B, but not both). The Court of Appeal agreed with the judge below, Justice Milman, that “or” is to be given an exclusive meaning. Because the non-party asked the arbitrator to set aside the subpoena first, the court had no jurisdiction under s. 29(4). Therefore, Justice Milman declined to apply s. 29, and an appeal of his decision was not prohibited under s. 29(10). The appeal was dismissed.