The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) has been given the green light by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to amend its statement of defence in a wrongful dismissal action.
Although the plaintiff, DM, did not oppose the amendments, he insisted on being compensated for costs related to the litigation. The disagreement primarily concerned two cancelled discoveries and the associated expenses.
DM claimed costs arising from two events: the cancellation of the TTC’s examination of him by the TTC’s counsel on short notice and his own cancellation of the TTC’s representative examination due to an amended defence draft provided by the TTC just days prior. He also sought compensation for potential changes to his reply pleading and possibly providing a supplementary affidavit of documents.
After considering the arguments, Justice Todd Robinson allowed the TTC to amend its statement but denied DM’s request for costs related to the changes. The court did not find evidence to support the assertion that all the claimed preparation time represents wasted or redundant efforts.
DM further pressed the court to impose a litigation timetable and to assign the case to formal case management. While Justice Robinson declined to assign the case to case management, deeming it unnecessary for the two-party dispute, he did order a timetable to expedite the discovery process. Examinations for discovery are scheduled to be completed by Dec. 29, 2023.
In terms of costs, TTC sought $15,860, while DM, despite TTC’s success on the motion, sought $12,352.50 on a substantial indemnity basis. After a thorough assessment, the court ruled in favor of TTC, ordering DM to pay them $13,000 within thirty days.
For more information, see Moskowitz v. Toronto Transit Commission, 2023 ONSC 5535 (CanLII)
