Douez v. Facebook Inc., 2015 BCCA 279
| Judge | Bauman, C.J.B.C., Lowry and Goepel, JJ.A. |
| Court | Court of Appeal (British Columbia) |
| Case Date | March 02, 2015 |
| Jurisdiction | British Columbia |
| Citations | 2015 BCCA 279;(2015), 374 B.C.A.C. 56 (CA) |
Douez v. Facebook Inc. (2015), 374 B.C.A.C. 56 (CA);
642 W.A.C. 56
MLB headnote and full text
Temp. Cite: [2015] B.C.A.C. TBEd. JN.049
Deborah Louise Douez (respondent/plaintiff) v. Facebook, Inc. (appellant/defendant)
(CA41917; CA41918; 2015 BCCA 279)
Indexed As: Douez v. Facebook Inc.
British Columbia Court of Appeal
Bauman, C.J.B.C., Lowry and Goepel, JJ.A.
June 19, 2015.
Summary:
Facebook Inc. was a Delaware company with its head office in California. It operated a popular online social network at facebook.com. Douez was a resident of British Columbia (B.C.) and member of facebook.com. She alleged that her name and portrait were featured in sponsored stories without her consent. She commenced an action against Facebook in the B.C. Supreme Court, relying on a statutory tort created by s. 3(2) of the Privacy Act. Douez applied to have the action certified as a class proceeding under the Class Proceedings Act. The proposed class was all B.C. residents whose name or photograph was featured in sponsored stories. Facebook applied with a request that the court decline to exercise its territorial competence on the ground that B.C. was forum non conveniens.
The British Columbia Supreme Court, in a decision reported at [2014] B.C.T.C. Uned. 953, allowed Douez's application and dismissed Facebook's application. The court accepted that Facebook had shown that the forum selection clause was valid, clear and enforceable. She disposed of the issue by holding that, even assuming Facebook had met its burden, s. 4 of the Privacy Act "overrides" the forum selection clause or, alternatively, Douez had shown strong cause to not enforce the forum selection clause. The court held that the intent of s. 4 was to override any forum selection clauses in favour of courts other than the B.C. Supreme Court. Facebook appealed.
The British Columbia Court of Appeal allowed the appeal.
Conflict of Laws - Topic 728
Jurisdiction - Jurisdiction excluded by contract - Stay of proceedings - When available - See paragraphs 42 to 80.
Conflict of Laws - Topic 7286
Contracts - Jurisdiction - Choice of forum by parties - See paragraphs 42 to 80.
Conflict of Laws - Topic 7602
Torts - Jurisdiction - Torts occurring outside jurisdiction - See paragraphs 45 to 73.
Cases Noticed:
Pompey (Z.I.) Industrie et al. v. Ecu-Line N.V. et al., [2003] 1 S.C.R. 450; 303 N.R. 201; 2003 SCC 27, folld. [para. 11].
Teck Cominco Metals Ltd. v. Lloyd's Underwriters - See Lombard General Insurance Co. of Canada v. Cominco Ltd. et al.
Lombard General Insurance Co. of Canada v. Cominco Ltd. et al., [2009] 1 S.C.R. 321; 384 N.R. 351; 266 B.C.A.C. 32; 449 W.A.C. 32; 2009 SCC 11, refd to. [para. 25].
Viroforce Systems Inc. et al. v. R & D Capital Inc. (2011), 306 B.C.A.C. 271; 516 W.A.C. 271; 2011 BCCA 260, refd to. [para. 26].
Preymann v. Ayus Technology Corp. (2012), 315 B.C.A.C. 207; 535 W.A.C. 207; 2012 BCCA 30, refd to. [para. 26].
Momentous.ca Corp. et al. v. Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball Ltd. et al. (2010), 270 O.A.C. 36; 103 O.R.(3d) 467; 2010 ONCA 722, affd. [2012] 1 S.C.R. 359; 428 N.R. 141; 290 O.A.C. 202; 2012 SCC 9, refd to. [paras. 27, 28].
Microcell Communications Inc. v. Frey - see Frey et al. v. BCE Inc. et al.
Frey et al. v. BCE Inc. et al. (2011), 377 Sask.R. 156; 528 W.A.C. 156; 2011 SKCA 136, refd to. [para. 29].
Hudye Farms Inc. v. Canadian Wheat Board (2011), 377 Sask.R. 146; 528 W.A.C. 146; 2011 SKCA 137, refd to. [para. 29].
Spiliada Maritime Corp. v. Cansulex Ltd., [1987] A.C. 460 (H.L.), refd to. [para. 38].
Hindocha v. Gheewala, [2003] UKPC 77, refd to. [para. 38].
Lubbe v. Cape Plc, [2000] UKHL 41, refd to. [para. 38].
Old North State Brewing Co. v. Newlands Services Inc. (1998), 113 B.C.A.C. 186; 184 W.A.C. 186; 58 B.C.L.R.(3d) 144 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 39].
Ezer v. Yorkton Securities Inc. et al., [2004] B.C.T.C. 487; 2004 BCSC 487, affd. (2005), 207 B.C.A.C. 65; 341 W.A.C. 65; 2005 BCCA 22, refd to. [para. 44].
Pennoyer v. Neff (1878), 95 U.S. 714, refd to. [para. 50].
R. v. Jameson, [1896] 2 Q.B. 425, refd to. [para. 51].
Masri v. Consolidated Contractors International (UK) Ltd. (No. 4), [2009] UKHL 43, refd to. [para. 51].
Al-Skeini et al. v. United Kingdom (Secretary of State for Defence), [2007] N.R. Uned. 125; [2007] UKHL 26, refd to. [para. 51].
Tolofson v. Jensen and Tolofson, [1994] 3 S.C.R. 1022; 175 N.R. 161; 77 O.A.C. 81; 51 B.C.A.C. 241; 84 W.A.C. 241, refd to. [para. 53].
Kuwait Airways Corp. v. Iraqi Airways Co. et al., [2001] 3 W.L.R. 1117, affd. [2002] UKHL 19; 291 N.R. 1 (H.L.), refd to. [para. 54].
Unifund Assurance Co. v. Insurance Corp. of British Columbia, [2003] 2 S.C.R. 63; 306 N.R. 201; 176 O.A.C. 1; 2003 SCC 40, refd to. [para. 55].
R. v. Royal Bank of Canada, [1913] A.C. 283 (P.C.), refd to. [para. 55].
Hunt v. Lac d'Amiante du Québec ltée et al., [1993] 4 S.C.R. 289; 161 N.R. 81; 37 B.C.A.C. 161; 60 W.A.C. 161, refd to. [para. 55].
Voyage Company Industries Inc. v. Craster et al., [1998] B.C.T.C. Uned. B38; 1998 CanLII 1776 (S.C.), refd to. [para. 58].
Incorporated Broadcasters Ltd. et al. v. Canwest Global Communications Corp. et al., [2001] O.T.C. 884; 2001 CanLII 28395 (Sup. Ct.), refd to. [para. 58].
Nord Resources Corp. v. Nord Pacific Ltd. et al. (2003), 263 N.B.R.(2d) 205; 689 A.P.R. 205; 2003 NBQB 201, refd to. [para. 58].
Zi Corp. v. Steinberg et al. (2006), 396 A.R. 157; 2006 ABQB 92, refd to. [para. 58].
Ironrod Investments Inc. v. Enquest Energy Services Corp. et al., [2011] O.T.C. Uned. 308; 2011 ONSC 308, refd to. [para. 58].
Gould v. Western Coal Corp. et al., [2012] O.T.C. Uned. 5184; 2012 ONSC 5184, refd to. [para. 58].
Kaynes v. BP plc (2014), 324 O.A.C. 207; 2014 ONCA 580, refd to. [para. 61].
Fouad et al. v. Longman et al., [2014] B.C.T.C. Uned. 785; 2014 BCSC 785, refd to. [para. 68].
Aschenbrenner et al. v. Yahemech, [2010] B.C.T.C. Uned. 905; 2010 BCSC 905, refd to. [para. 68].
Griffin v. Sullivan, [2008] B.C.T.C. Uned. 553; 2008 BCSC 827, refd to. [para. 68].
Seidel v. Telus Communications Inc., [2011] 1 S.C.R. 531; 412 N.R. 195; 301 B.C.A.C. 1; 510 W.A.C. 1; 2011 SCC 15, refd to. [para. 69].
Di Sora v. Phillipps, [1863] 10 H.L. Cas. 624, refd to. [para. 77].
Bumper Development Corp. v. Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, [1991] W.L.R. 1362 (E.W.C.A.) , refd to. [para. 77].
Loewen Group Inc. v. Continental Insurance Co. of Canada (1997), 44 B.C.L.R.(3d) 387 (S.C.), refd to. [para. 83].
Statutes Noticed:
Privacy Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 373, sect. 4 [para. 10].
Authors and Works Noticed:
Story, Joseph, Commentaries on the Conflict of Laws (4th Ed. 1852), p. 11 [para. 49].
Counsel:
M.A. Gelowitz and T.J. Mallett, for the appellant;
C. Jones, Q.C., C. Rhone and J. Willcock, A/S, for the respondent.
This appeal was heard at Vancouver, B.C., on March 2, 2015, by Bauman, C.J.B.C., Lowry and Goepel, JJ.A., of the British Columbia Court of Appeal. The following reasons for judgment of the Court of Appeal were delivered by Bauman, C.J.B.C., on June 19, 2015.
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