Brad-Jay Investments Ltd. v. Village Developments Ltd. et al., (2006) 218 O.A.C. 315 (CA)

• Judge: O'Connor, A.C.J.O., Simmons and Juriansz, JJ.A.
• Court: Court of Appeal (Ontario)
• Case Date: Tuesday December 19, 2006
• Jurisdiction: Ontario
• Citations: (2006), 218 O.A.C. 315 (CA)

Brad-Jay Inv. Ltd. v. Village Dev. Ltd. (2006), 218 O.A.C. 315 (CA)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2007] O.A.C. TBEd. JA.004

Brad-Jay Investments Limited (plaintiff/appellant) v. Village Developments Limited (defendant/appellant) and Marica Szijjarto, Tibor Szijjarto, Monica Darabos, Sando Kosa, Mel Greenglass, also known as Melvin Greenglass, Marcy Greenglass, Triple A Property Management, 350052 Ontario Ltd. carrying on business as the Rexale Lottery Boutique and 719931 Ontario Ltd. (defendants/ respondents)

(C44432)

Indexed As: Brad-Jay Investments Ltd. v. Village Developments Ltd. et al.

Ontario Court of Appeal

O'Connor, A.C.J.O., Simmons and Juriansz, JJ.A.

December 22, 2006.

Summary:

The owners of a mall (Brad-Jay) alleged that Greenglass misappropriated cash from the revenues of a flea market operated on Sundays at the mall from 1981 to 1999. One owner sued Greenglass and others for damages for loss of revenues from 1987 to 1999. Against Greenglass, it alleged misappropriation, breach of fiduciary duty and negligence. Greenglass cross-claimed, alleging wrongful dismissal.

The Ontario Superior Court, in a decision reported at [2005] O.T.C. 885, dismissed the claims and Greenglass' cross-claim for wrongful dismissal. The owners appealed. Greenglass sought leave to appeal the trial judge's disposition of costs.

The Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal and denied leave to cross-appeal.

Torts - Topic 77

Negligence - Duty of care - Relationship required to raise duty of care - The owners of a mall ("Brad-Jay" and "Village" (also the mall's manager)) alleged that Greenglass, who was employed as Village's manager, misappropriated cash from the revenues of a flea market operated on Sundays at the mall from 1981 to 1999 - Brad-Jay sued Greenglass for damages alleging, inter alia, negligence - The trial judge dismissed the claim on the basis that neither Village nor Greenglass had responsibility for the management of the flea market - Thus, Greenglass did not have a duty of care with respect to the operation of the flea market upon which to found a claim for negligence - The Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal - There was no basis for interfering with the trial judge's conclusion that Greenglass did not owe a duty of care to the Brad-Jay or Village in the management of the flea market - See paragraphs 9 to 13.

Cases Noticed:

Soulos v. Korkontzilas et al., [1997] 2 S.C.R. 217; 212 N.R. 1; 100 O.A.C. 241, refd to. [para. 16].

Counsel:

R.B. Moldaver, Q.C., and Barbara Green, for the appellants;

Jill M. Knudsen and Douglas Christie, for the respondents.

This appeal was heard on December 19, 2006, before O'Connor, A.C.J.O., Simmons and Juriansz, JJ.A., of the Ontario Court of Appeal, who released the following endorsement on December 22, 2006.