Sullivan v. Northern Express Messenger Systems Ltd., (1992) 133 A.R. 241 (QB)

• Judge: Lomas, J.
• Court: Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta (Canada)
• Case Date: September 08, 1992
• Citations: (1992), 133 A.R. 241 (QB)

Sullivan v. Northern Express Messenger (1992), 133 A.R. 241 (QB)

MLB headnote and full text

James M. Sullivan (plaintiff) v. Northern Express Messenger Systems Ltd. (defendant)

(Action No. 8901-14582)

Indexed As: Sullivan v. Northern Express Messenger Systems Ltd.

Alberta Court of Queen's Bench

Judicial District of Calgary

Lomas, J.

September 8, 1992.

Summary:

The plaintiff senior employee brought a wrongful dismissal action for damages against his employer. Damages were agreed on, the only issue was whether there was cause for dismissal.

The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench stated that the employee was dismissed without cause. The court awarded damages in the agreed amount.

Equity - Topic 3641

Fiduciary or confidential relationships - Breach of fiduciary relationship - What constitutes - [See Master and Servant - Topic 7572 ].

Interest - Topic 5544

Interest as damages (prejudgment interest) - Practice - Pleading - The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench refused to award a suc­cessful plaintiff prejudgment interest under the Judgment Interest Act, where the claim for interest was not pleaded in the state­ment of claim and there was no application to amend the statement of claim to include the interest claim - See paragraphs 138 to 140.

Master and Servant - Topic 7561

Dismissal of employees - Grounds - Conflict of interest - [See Master and Servant - Topic 7572 ].

Master and Servant - Topic 7572

Dismissal of employees - Grounds - Offer to purchase employer's business - An employee was the vice-president and a minority shareholder of a multi-national courier company controlled by Air Canada - The employee was privy to Air Canada's plan to sell some branches and discontinue others - The employee led a group of branch managers in a management buy-out offer - The offer was rejected and the employee was dismissed - The company claimed the employee breached his fiduciary duty by, inter alia, acting con­trary to the company's best interests and improperly disclosing confidential infor­mation - The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench held that the employee was dis­missed without cause - An employee's offer to purchase his employer's business was not cause for dismissal - The employee acted in good faith in the com­pany's best interests, did not disclose or abuse confidential information, was not in a conflict of interest position and, accord­ingly, did not breach his fiduciary duty.

Cases Noticed:

Hardie v. Trans-Canada Resources Ltd. (1976), 2 A.R. 289; 71 D.L.R.(3d) 668 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 103].

Macdonald v. Richardson Greenshields of Canada Ltd. (1985), 69 B.C.L.R. 58 (S.C.), refd to. [para. 104].

Mack v. Link Hardware Co. (1978), 14 A.R. 347; 92 D.L.R.(3d) 757 (Dist. Ct.), refd to. [para. 104].

Anderson v. Pirelli Cables Inc. (1984), 5 C.C.E.L. 156 (Ont. H.C.), refd to. [para. 105].

MacLeod and Osachoff v. Geoservices North America Ltd. (1973), 44 A.R. 93 (Q.B.), refd to. [para. 106].

Wilcox and Marshall v. G.W.G. Ltd., [1984] 4 W.W.R. 70; 53 A.R. 161 (Q.B.), revsd. [1986] 1 W.W.R. 567; 67 A.R. 144 (C.A.), refd to. [paras. 108, 110].

State Vacuum Stores of Canada Ltd. v. Phillips, [1954] 3 D.L.R. 621; 12 W.W.R.(N.S.) 489, refd to. [para. 110].

Empey v. Coastal Towing Co., [1977] 1 W.W.R. 673 (B.C.S.C.), refd to. [para. 111].

Tree Savers International Ltd. et al. v. Savoy et al., [1992] 2 W.W.R. 470; 120 A.R. 368; 8 W.A.C. 368 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 112].

Nathu v. Imbrook Properties Ltd., [1992] 4 W.W.R. 373; 125 A.R. 34; 14 W.A.C. 34 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 140].

Statutes Noticed:

Canada Business Corporations Act, S.C. 1974-75-76, c. 33, sect. 122(1) [para. 107].

Judgment Interest Act, S.A. 1984, c. J-0.5, generally [para. 2].

Counsel:

Grant N. Stapon, for the plaintiff;

Alan J. McConnell, for the defendant.

This action was heard before Lomas, J., of the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench, Judicial District of Calgary, who delivered the fol­lowing judgment on September 8, 1992.