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Case information

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39343

Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. John’s v. John Doe (G.E.B. #25), et al.

(Newfoundland & Labrador) (Civil) (By Leave)

Docket

Judgments on applications for leave to appeal are rendered by the Court, but are not necessarily unanimous.

List of proceedings
Date Proceeding Filed By
(if applicable)
2021-03-05 Close file on Leave
2021-01-15 Copy of formal judgment sent to Registrar of the Court of Appeal and all parties
2021-01-15 Judgment on leave sent to the parties
2021-01-14 Judgment of the Court on the application for leave to appeal, The application for leave to appeal from the judgment of the Court of Appeal of Newfoundland and Labrador, Numbers 201801H0028 and 201801H0045, 2020 NLCA 27, dated July 28, 2020, is dismissed with costs.
Dismissed, with costs
2020-12-07 All materials on application for leave submitted to the Judges, for consideration by the Court
2020-10-09 Letter acknowledging receipt of a complete application for leave to appeal, FILE OPENED 2020/10/09
2020-10-02 Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form), 23B-Reply Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. John’s
2020-10-02 Applicant's reply to respondent's argument, (Book Form), Completed on: 2020-10-02 Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. John’s
2020-09-23 Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form), 23B John Doe (G.E.B. #25)
2020-09-23 Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form), 23A John Doe (G.E.B. #25)
2020-09-23 Respondent's response on the application for leave to appeal, (Book Form), Completed on: 2020-09-23, (Printed version filed on 2020-09-24) John Doe (G.E.B. #25)
2020-09-23 Notice of name, (Letter Form) Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. John’s
2020-09-23 Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form), 23B Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. John’s
2020-09-23 Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form), 23A Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. John’s
2020-09-23 Application for leave to appeal, (Book Form), Final NLSC Order rec'd 2020/10/13, Completed on: 2020-09-23 Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. John’s

Parties

Please note that in the case of closed files, the “Status” column reflects the status of the parties at the time of the proceedings. For more information about the proceedings and about the dates when the file was open, please consult the docket of the case in question.

Main parties

Main parties - Appellants
Name Role Status
Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. John’s Applicant Active

v.

Main parties - Respondents
Name Role Status
John Doe (G.E.B. #25) Respondent Active
John Doe (G.E.B. #26) Respondent Active
John Doe (G.E.B. #33) Respondent Active
John Doe (G.E.B. #50) Respondent Active

Counsel

Party: Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. John’s

Counsel
Mark R. Frederick
Susan Adam Metzler
Chris T. Blom
Miller Thomson LLP
Scotia Plaza, Suite 5800
40 King St. W.
Toronto, Ontario
M5H 3S1
Telephone: (416) 595-8175
FAX: (416) 595-8695
Email: mfrederick@millerthomson.com
Agent
D.Lynne Watt
Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP
160 Elgin Street
Suite 2600
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 1C3
Telephone: (613) 786-8695
FAX: (613) 788-3509
Email: lynne.watt@gowlingwlg.com

Party: John Doe (G.E.B. #25)

Counsel
Eugene Meehan, Q.C.
Thomas Slade
Geoffrey E. Budden
Paul Kennedy
Supreme Advocacy LLP
100 - 340 Gilmour Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K2P 0R3
Telephone: (613) 695-8855 Ext: 101
FAX: (613) 695-8580
Email: emeehan@supremeadvocacy.ca
Agent
Marie-France Major
Supreme Advocacy LLP
100- 340 Gilmour Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K2P 0R3
Telephone: (613) 695-8855 Ext: 102
FAX: (613) 695-8580
Email: mfmajor@supremeadvocacy.ca

Party: John Doe (G.E.B. #26)

Counsel
Eugene Meehan, Q.C.
Thomas Slade
Geoffrey E. Budden
Paul Kennedy
Supreme Advocacy LLP
100 - 340 Gilmour Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K2P 0R3
Telephone: (613) 695-8855 Ext: 101
FAX: (613) 695-8580
Email: emeehan@supremeadvocacy.ca
Agent
Marie-France Major
Supreme Advocacy LLP
100- 340 Gilmour Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K2P 0R3
Telephone: (613) 695-8855 Ext: 102
FAX: (613) 695-8580
Email: mfmajor@supremeadvocacy.ca

Party: John Doe (G.E.B. #33)

Counsel
Eugene Meehan, Q.C.
Thomas Slade
Geoffrey E. Budden
Paul Kennedy
Supreme Advocacy LLP
100 - 340 Gilmour Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K2P 0R3
Telephone: (613) 695-8855 Ext: 101
FAX: (613) 695-8580
Email: emeehan@supremeadvocacy.ca
Agent
Marie-France Major
Supreme Advocacy LLP
100- 340 Gilmour Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K2P 0R3
Telephone: (613) 695-8855 Ext: 102
FAX: (613) 695-8580
Email: mfmajor@supremeadvocacy.ca

Party: John Doe (G.E.B. #50)

Counsel
Eugene Meehan, Q.C.
Thomas Slade
Geoffrey E. Budden
Paul Kennedy
Supreme Advocacy LLP
100 - 340 Gilmour Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K2P 0R3
Telephone: (613) 695-8855 Ext: 101
FAX: (613) 695-8580
Email: emeehan@supremeadvocacy.ca
Agent
Marie-France Major
Supreme Advocacy LLP
100- 340 Gilmour Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K2P 0R3
Telephone: (613) 695-8855 Ext: 102
FAX: (613) 695-8580
Email: mfmajor@supremeadvocacy.ca

Summary

Keywords

Torts — Vicarious liability — Former students of orphanage claiming damages for sexual abuse against both religious order who operated orphanage and archdiocese where orphanage was located — Court of Appeal holding archdiocese vicariously liable — Where an entity plays a limited role in the establishment, funding and general support of an institution, but is not an employer and has no control over its day to day operations, and does nothing to materially enhance the risk undertaken, is it appropriate that it be deemed to be vicariously liable for the institution?

Summary

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

In a suit filed in 1999, the respondents, who suffered sexual abuse while they were boys living at Mount Cashel orphanage in St. John’s during the 1950s, claimed against the applicant, the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. John’s (the “Archdiocese”) and the Christian Brothers Institute Inc. (the “Brothers”) for damages. The respondents’ evidence implicated five Brothers. The Brothers had been in Newfoundland since 1875 for the purpose of educating Roman Catholic boys and had control over the day to day activities at Mount Cashel. The Brothers did not participate in the trial as bankruptcy proceedings had resulted in liquidation of their assets.

The trial judge held that the Archdiocese could not be found vicariously liable for the tortious conduct of the Brothers. The Court of Appeal concluded that the trial judge made errors of law on this point. It conducted its own assessment of the evidence and concluded both that the relationship between the Archdiocese and the Brothers was sufficiently close to justify imposing vicarious liability on the Archdiocese and that the Brothers’ sexual assaults of the respondents were sufficiently connected to their assigned task of caring for them for the assaults to be regarded as a materialization of the risks created by the Archdiocese. It therefore held that the Archdiocese was vicariously liable for the Brothers’ abuse of the respondents.

Lower court rulings

March 16, 2018
Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, General Division

199901T3223; 199901T3224, 199901T3231; 19901T3241, 2018 NLSC 60

Respondents’ claims for damages against the applicant dismissed; applicant not vicariously liable for acts of abuse committed.

July 28, 2020
Court of Appeal of Newfoundland and Labrador

201801H0028; 201801H0045, 2020 NLCA 27

Appeal allowed; applicant vicariously liable for sexual abuse of the respondents.

Memorandums of argument on application for leave to appeal

The memorandums of argument on an application for leave to appeal will be posted here 30 days after leave to appeal has been granted unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of the memorandum by filing out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.

If you have questions about a memorandum of argument or want to use a memorandum of argument, please contact the author of the memorandum of argument directly. Their name appears at the end of the memorandum of argument. The contact information for counsel is found in the “Counsel” tab of this page.

Downloadable PDFs

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Factums on appeal

The factums of the appellant, the respondent and the intervener will be posted here at least 2 weeks before the hearing unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of factums by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.

If you have questions about a factum or want permission to use a factum, please contact the author of the factum directly. Their contact information appears on the first page of each factum.

Downloadable PDFs

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Webcasts

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Date modified: 2025-02-27