Legal Blog

Punitive Damages

Goldentuler Estate v. Crosbie 2017 Ont CA

A defendant paralegal surreptitiously removed 120 files from the offices of a lawyer and transferred them to another lawyer. The trial judge found that the defendants were liable for damages arising from breaches of duty of loyalty and good faith, the failure to avoid conflicts of interest, and self-interest during the course of their employment. The trial judge did not award punitive damages. The Court of Appeal awarded punitive damages in the amount of $80,000 because of the pre-litigation conduct of the defendants, which they found to be outrageous and high-handed. Compensatory damages were not sufficient to achieve the goals of deterrence and denunciation.

Written by Jonathan Speigel Jonathan Speigel, the founding partner of Speigel Nichols Fox LLP, leads the litigation and construction practices.