Legal Blog
Garnishment Hearing: Significant Financial Implications for Disregarding the Court Process
Couper v. Vitaquest International 2017 Ont SCJ (MC)
A creditor garnished the Canadian suppliers of an American debtor. The garnishee did not pay nor did it deliver a garnishee’s statement setting out why it would not pay. The creditor warned the garnishee that if it did not comply, the creditor would bring a garnishment motion to attach liability to the garnishee. The creditor brought the motion and served the garnishee, who attempted to evade service and ultimately did not attend the hearing. At the hearing, the creditor presented evidence indicating that garnishee would have owed $300,000 to $600,000 per month for material obtained from the debtor. The Master awarded the full judgment debt of $1.7 million against the garnishee even though the Master did not know the exact amount of money that the garnishee owed to the debtor. The Master was not impressed with the garnishee’s flagrant disregard of the court process.
Written by Jonathan Speigel, the founding partner of Speigel Nichols Fox LLP, leads the litigation and construction practices. |