In the recent decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal (“ONCA”), Steinberg v. Adderley, 2023 ONCA 725, the ONCA dismissed the appellant’s appeal of an order finding him in contempt of a court order and dismissing his action.
In this case, the appellant was ordered by two different judges to attend at a medical examination, but failed to do so. As a result, the respondent brought a motion to find the appellant in contempt of the orders, which motion was granted.
At the hearing of the appeal of the motion judge’s decision, the appellant argued that the motion judge erred by not treating contempt as an order of last resort and by not accepting the appellant’s excuse for failing to comply with previous court orders, being that he was allegedly unable to travel in order to attend the medical examination. The ONCA rejected the appellant’s grounds for appeal, stating that the “appellant deliberately failed to comply with two previous court orders” and that the finding of contempt was based on the appellant’s “persistent refusal to comply with the orders”.
In dismissing the appellant’s action, with costs payable to the respondent, the motion judge opined that the appellant’s “paradoxical behaviour” of seeking a large monetary award while refusing to comply with court orders was “contemptuous conduct that should not be rewarded”. The ONCA upheld the motion judge’s decision to dismiss the appellant’s action, stating that the “penalty for a finding of contempt is discretionary and entitled to deference”, and “consistent with the court’s power” under rule 60.12 of the Rules of Civil Procedure.
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