From: Stephen Pitel <spitel@uwo.ca>
To: obligations@uwo.ca
Date: 23/07/2013 21:33:43 UTC
Subject: ODG: Torts - Duty of Care - Direct Involvement of Corporate Parent
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has dismissed motions to strike out, as disclosing no cause of action, claims by indigenous Mayan Q'eqchi' from Guatemala against HudBay, a Canadian mining company.  So the claims go forward, though my money would be on an appeal first.

The facts pleaded are disturbing.  The decision is not yet on a public website but is available at:

http://www.chocversushudbay.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Judgment-July-22-2013-Hudbays-motion-to-strike.pdf

The court does a detailed analysis to consider whether it would be possible that the defendant owed the plaintiffs a duty of care in the course of their corporate operations.  The plaintiffs in their pleadings apparently stressed the direct nature of the tort claim against the Canadian parent company rather than alleging it is somehow responsible for another company's torts.

My sense is the volume of this sort of claim against parent corporations is increasing.  I suppose I am remembering
Chandler v Cape Plc [2012] EWCA Civ 525.  Doubtless there are more examples.

Stephen



--
Western Law

Professor Stephen G.A. Pitel
Goodmans LLP Faculty Fellow in Legal Ethics 2013-14
Faculty of Law, Western University
(519) 661-2111 ext 88433