Legal Blog

Res Judicata

Kovacs v. Sparkes 2017 Ont SCJ

An owner was awarded a judgment in a lien action brought by a corporate contractor. The owner then brought an action against the principals of the corporation alleging that they stripped the corporation of its assets and misrepresented and concealed how the corporation had charged the owner during the project. The principals attempted to dismiss the action on the basis of res judicata and abuse of process. The motions judge held the original action had not alleged that the corporation’s assets had been stripped to avoid judgment and could not have been raised because there was no judgment in favour of owners. Fact that the factual matrix might have been the same in both actions was irrelevant. The new action was not res judicata and certainly not an abuse of process.

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