In the case of Reed v. Cooper-Gordon Ltd. et al dated September 19, 2023, plaintiff Robert Reed, a former employee and minority shareholder in Cooper-Gordon Ltd. (CGL), defendant through his holding company, Creekside EAP Holdings Inc., had brought a motion seeking leave to appeal an arbitration decision under s. 45 of the Arbitrations Act, 1991.
Reed had given notice of his intention to depart CGL in 2018, which had eventually led to the termination of his employment in June 2020.
He had initiated legal action against CGL in May 2020, claiming unpaid bonuses, RRSP contributions, shareholder oppression, and more.
As per a shareholder agreement, the parties had agreed to resolve disputes through arbitration.
The arbitrator, Claude Freeman, had issued his decision in March 2022, which Reed had found unfavorable, leading him to seek leave to appeal.
However, the arbitration agreement had stated that the arbitrator's decision was final and not subject to appeal.
In the end, the court had granted leave to appeal concerning the notice period and the consideration of Reed's claims for unpaid RRSP and bonus payments.
The rest of the motion had been dismissed.
The parties had been encouraged to settle the costs, with a deadline set for submissions.
If no submissions had been received, the parties had been deemed to have resolved costs between them.
