In Parks v McAvoy, 2023 ABCA 211, the Alberta Court of Appeal overturned the lower court's decision to summarily dismiss personal claims in negligence against the director of the defendant company related to the construction of a residential house.
Background
In 2010, the Plaintiff hired the defendant company, Woodparke Homes, to construct a residential house. The defendant, Steve McAvoy, was the majority shareholder and sole director of Woodparke.
The house was completed in 2014 but the Plaintiff allegedly later discovered numerous defects in the house including mold and structural issues. The Plaintiff sued Mr. McAvoy and Woodparke (as well as other entities) seeking $6.5 million in damages for negligently constructing the house, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and fraud.
Mr. McAvoy filed a summary judgment application to dismiss all claims against him personally on the basis that he bore no personal liability as he was separate from the Woodparke corporate entity. The Plaintiff also filed an application for summary judgment in his favour but that application was dismissed on the basis that the evidentiary record did not allow for a fair disposition in a summary fashion.
The lower court categorized the claims against Mr. McAvoy into two groups: those related to deficient construction and those related to accounting issues. The lower court dismissed claims related to deficient construction as Mr. McAvoy was not a party to...
