1688782 Ontario Inc. v. Maple Leaf Foods Inc.
Posted May 1, 2017Lerners Appellate Advocacy lawyers were successful in obtaining leave to appeal a judgment of the Court of Appeal for Ontario to the Supreme Court of Canada in this class action case involving business losses and reputational harm suffered by Mr. Sub franchisees in the wake of the 2008 Maple Leaf Foods listeriosis outbreak. The Supreme Court of Canada agreed that the issues to be determined by the Court are of national and public importance. The core issue at the heart of the appeal is whether a manufacturer of products intended for human consumption can escape liability to a class of known and proximate franchisees for reasonably foreseeable reputational harm and economic losses caused by the manufacturer’s negligent supply of contaminated, dangerous products into the marketplace. The Court will be asked to address and determine the proper legal basis on which pure economic loss is recoverable in such cases, how damages to a person or entity’s reputation ought to be characterized, and to determine the standard of review of a court’s conclusion when it finds that a defendant owes a duty of care to a plaintiff. Lerners LLP and Nicholson Smith & Partners LLP are class counsel.