26/10/2020 – Jurisdiction Ontario
Part 72 published on 01/12/2020
Claims dismissed as against Directors and Officers
The Plaintiff is the Developer of the condominium and continues to own a number of units in the condominium. The Plaintiff had asserted a claim against both the condominium corporation and the corporation’s Directors and Officers for oppression (under Section 135 of the Condominium Act, 1998) and interference with economic relations.
The Court dismissed the Claims against the Directors and Officers. The Court said:
In my view, there is no reasonable basis in the pleadings on which a court could decide that the oppression alleged could be properly rectified by a monetary order against a director or officer personally. The alleged conduct did not result in any personal benefit to the Individual Defendants and it did not increase their control in any way. Although it is alleged that they breached their duty to the Condo Corporation, the specific conduct alleged involves the Board making decisions about how to manage the Condo Corporation’s day-to-day affairs. They may be wrong in these decisions or their assessment as to the extent of the deficiencies and need for repair, but it should not be that errors in the day-to-day management of the affairs of the corporation, which do not even personally benefit them should result in a personal order against them. Allowing actions of this sort to proceed against directors of condominium corporations would serve as a disincentive to their raising deficiencies with developers and properly advising potential purchasers such deficiencies.
Cottage Advisors of Canada v Prince Edward Vacant Land No. 10