I promised an update once the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on whether to grant leave to Mr. Manos in his claim against Wal-Mart Canada.  (This is the guy who was sprayed in the face with a fire extinguisher by an employee at the Waterdown Wal-Mart.  Accidentally, it must be said.)

You will recall that he sued Wal-Mart and won a big judgment, but had the judgment overturned on appeal.  He sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. At the time, I predicted that the Supreme Court would reject the application for leave.  This was an easy prediction to make, and it came true.  Last summer, when Mr. Manos’s case came up on the Supreme Court’s docket, the application for leave to appeal was dismissed with costs.

Where Does this Leave Mr. Manos?

It leaves him in an extremely unenviable position.  Mr. Manos now has to pay some of Wal-Mart’s legal costs.  He has been ordered to pay Wal-Mart’s legal costs from the Court of Appeal (in the amount of $22,500.00), plus Wal-Mart’s legal costs from the application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court (in an amount to be determined). 

And of course, Mr. Manos does not want to go to trial a second time and lose.  In that circumstance, not only would he not have a court judgment, but he would be on the hook to pay Wal-Mart’s legal costs from three (3) levels of Court: (i) the Superior Court, (ii) the Court of Appeal, and (iii) the Supreme Court of Canada.

Even winning a second trial will provide only some measure of relief for Mr. Manos with respect to the question of costs. If he wins the second trial, Wal-Mart will almost certainly be ordered to pay Mr. Manos’s costs of the second trial. Wal-Mart may or may not be ordered to pay his costs of the first trial as well. Even winning the second trial could leave Mr. Manos with a lot of legal fees for trial which are not going to be covered by the defendants. And even in a best-case outcome for Mr. Manos at the second trial, he will still be on the hook for Wal-Mart’s costs from the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada.

So What Happens Next?

I expect that this case will reach a confidential, out-of-court settlement.  Mr. Manos will be motivated to settle. He started his lawsuit in 2012, so litigation fatigue is probably starting to set in.  If he proceeds with a second trial, that will take even more time.  And Wal-Mart will have the ability to appeal the result of the second trial, which will take even more time.  I do not know Mr. Manos – he may be a very resolute person.  That being said, his lawsuit is already nine (9) years old, so no matter how resolute he is, the prospect of some finality to his legal case must be appealing.

Wal-Mart also has a good reason to settle this case.  While this case has not been widely reported in the mainstream media, there is always the risk that a bad result at the second trial could generate some bad media coverage for Wal-Mart.  No executive wants to be the one who has to manage the story about their employee who sprayed a customer in the face with a fire extinguisher.  That negative media coverage could be considerably more financially damaging to Wal-Mart than a confidential six-figure settlement with Mr. Manos.

I don’t expect to hear anything more about this case, because a settlement would be out-of-court and totally confidential.  If, on the other hand, this case does go back to trial, I will certainly provide an update on this blog!