Metroland v. CIBC: 2001 Motion Decision
Ontario Supreme Court
Metroland Printing, Publishing & Distribution Ltd. v. C.I.B.C.
Date: 2001-05-03
Metroland Printing, Publishing and Distribution Ltd., Plaintiff
and
2001 CanLII 28367 (ON SC)
The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, The Bank of Nova Scotia and The Toronto-Dominion Bank, Defendants
Ontario Superior Court of Justice [Commercial List] Lederman J.
Heard: March 30, 2001
Judgment: May 3, 2001
Docket: 00-CL-4048
Reid Lester, for Plaintiff/Moving Party
William J. Burden, for Defendants/Respondents
Lederman J.:
Background
[1] The plaintiff, Metroland, moves for summary judgment against the defendants, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (the “CIBC” or “drawee bank”), and against the defendants, Toronto-Dominion Bank (the “TD Bank”) and the Bank of Nova Scotia (“the collecting banks”). The dispute involves a number of unauthorized cheques that were created by one of the plaintiff’s employees, Sandra Latiff (“Latiff”). Latiff was the plaintiff’s Corporate Accounts Payable Supervisor from 1989 until 1996. She was not an officer or director of the plaintiff and at no time had signing authority with respect to cheques drawn by the plaintiff. As a payroll clerk, Latiff would regularly enter data into the plaintiff’s computer system for the purpose of meeting the plaintiff’s payroll obligations. The computer would then generate cheque forms containing the relevant payee names and amounts. One of the plaintiff’s accounting clerks, (i.e. not Latiff) would feed these cheque forms through a machine which would imprint an authorized facsimile signature on each cheque. Generally, only cheques over $10,000.00 required manual signatures.