Ontario Superior Court Justice Paul Perell said that Rochon Genova LLP, the plaintiff law firm for three garment workers injured in the building collapse, failed to argue a viable cause of action for their claim. The judge criticised the plaintiffs’ claim as “bloated with conclusory statements that simply allege a cause of action as if it was a material fact” in relation to Loblaw and other defendants’ potential roles in the collapse.
The company, which paid relief and compensation of some $5 million to Bangladeshi workers and various social agencies in the wake of the Rana Plaza disaster, is "pleased" with the ruling.
Rochon Genova LLP had argued that Loblaw was “vicariously liable” for the negligence of its suppliers and sub-suppliers, Pearl Global and New Wave. Loblaw Cos Ltd had hired Pearl Global to produce garments for Joe Fresh. Pearl Global had then outsourced some of the work to New Wave, which manufactured garments at Rana Plaza.
The claim of vicarious liability failed because Pearl Global and New Wave were not agents or employees of Loblaw, nor were they independent contractors of the sort that can trigger vicarious liability in the legal sense, Justice Perell wrote.
“New Wave was selling goods, not services or tasks that were part of Loblaw’s enterprise,” he said in the decision. “Loblaw did not delegate its responsibility for the safety of the employees of New Wave, because it had no such responsibility.” The “exceptional circumstances” in which an enterprise can be vicariously liable for the misdeeds of independent contractors were not evident in this case, Perell added.
“Loblaw had no control over how Pearl Global and New Wave carried on their manufacturing business or treated their employees.”
The lawsuit also named Loblaw's parent company George Weston Ltd, Loblaw's subsidiary Joe Fresh Apparel Inc, and the US, France and Bangladesh branches of Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services Inc, a company hired by Loblaw to perform inspections and audits of textile and garment factories.
Loblaw spokesperson Kevin Groh said that the company is “pleased” with the ruling in a statement. He added that the company, along with two global trade unions IndustriALL Global Union and UNIGlobal Union, had renewed its commitment to the global 2013 Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, which established stricter standards for workplace safety in factories.
“Our three-year renewal will help extend the Accord’s good work, auditing and eliminating building risks in facilities where our suppliers produce our goods, and putting workers’ interests first,” he said in the statement.
The company paid out $5 million in compensation to workers and organisations in the wake of the disaster on April 24, 2013, which killed more than 1,100 and injured more than 2,500.
Thursday, April 25, 2024
