Krahn v. 3765661 Manitoba Ltd. et al., 2000 MBQB 238

• Judge: Monnin, J.
• Court: Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba (Canada)
• Case Date: December 21, 2000
• Jurisdiction: Manitoba
• Citations: 2000 MBQB 238;(2000), 152 Man.R.(2d) 152 (QB)

Krahn v. 3765661 Man. Ltd. (2000), 152 Man.R.(2d) 152 (QB)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2001] Man.R.(2d) TBEd. JA.010

Rosaline Emily Krahn (plaintiff/respondent) and 3765661 Manitoba Ltd. o/a Julius Moving and Storage (1998), Roger Ducharme and AAA Roger's Quality Moving and Storage (defendants/appellants)

(CI 00-01-19219; 2000 MBQB 238)

Indexed As: Krahn v. 3765661 Manitoba Ltd. et al.

Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench

Winnipeg Centre

Monnin, J.

December 21, 2000.

Summary:

When Krahn went to retrieve her goods from a storage facility, the goods could not be found. Krahn sued the defendants for the value of goods. The facility asserted that the absence of the goods were not of any want of care on its part and, in any event, relied upon a clause in a contract which limited its liability to $50 per item. The Small Claims hearing officer allowed the action and awarded Krahn $3,400. The defendants appealed.

The Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench affirmed the finding of liability, but reduced the award to $2,500.

Bailment - Topic 2203

Liability of bailee - Bailment for benefit of bailor and bailee - Duty of bailee for hire or reward - Krahn stored furniture at AAA's facility - A document contained a clause limiting AAA's liability - Krahn did not sign the document - AAA transferred the furniture to Julius's facility - The charges remained the same - Thereafter, the furniture could not be found - Julius did not have an itemized list of the furni­ture and could not confirm its receipt or its allegation of theft - The Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench granted Krahn judgment for the furniture's fair market value - Under the Warehouse Receipts Act the document provided by AAA became the bailment contract - Julius became a sub-bailee pursuant to the contract's assignment - Julius did not meet the standard of a careful and vigilant owner of similar goods as required by the Act - Although the breach was not fundamental so as to pre­vent reliance on the limitation clause, the clause had not been brought to Krahn's attention and could not be relied on.

Bailment - Topic 2204

Liability of bailee - Bailment for benefit of bailor and bailee - What constitutes negli­gence - [See Bailment - Topic 2203 ].

Bailment - Topic 2347

Liability of bailee - Exclusionary clauses - Bars - Fundamental breach - [See Bail­ment - Topic 2203 ].

Bailment - Topic 3010

Liability of sub-bailees - Standard of care - [See Bailment - Topic 2203 ].

Bailment - Topic 4228

For benefit of bailor and bailee - Particu­lar relationships - Hire of custody, ware­housing and storage - Duty of bailee - [See Bailment - Topic 2203 ].

Bailment - Topic 4240

For benefit of bailor and bailee - Particu­lar relationships - Hire of custody, ware­housing and storage - Validity of clause limiting liability of bailee - [See Bailment - Topic 2203 ].

Bailment - Topic 4241

For benefit of bailor and bailee - Particu­lar relationships - Hire of custody, ware­housing and storage - Clause limiting liability of bailee - Persons protected - [See Bailment - Topic 2203 ].

Cases Noticed:

Mason et al. v. Morrow's Moving & Stor­age Ltd. (1978), 87 D.L.R.(3d) 234 (B.C.C.A.), refd to. [para. 22].

National Drugs Ltd. v. Dominion Storage Co. (1979), 1 Man.R.(2d) 139; 106 D.L.R.(3d) 76 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 28].

Authors and Works Noticed:

Fridman, G.H.L., The Law of Contract in Canada (4th Ed. 1999), p. 610 [para. 29].

Counsel:

The plaintiff/respondent appeared in per­son;

Brent C.A. Kaneski, for the defend­ant/appellant, 3765661 Manitoba Ltd. o/a Julius Moving and Storage (1998);

No one appeared for the remaining defendants/appellants.

This appeal was heard by Monnin, J., of the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench, Winnipeg Centre, who delivered the follow­ing judgment on December 21, 2000.