Law Times

Page 12 August 8, 2016 • LAw times www.lawtimesnews.com Facebook case tests extent of adhesion contracts BY JIM MIDDLEMISS For Law Times O nline commerce and social media could get a dose of judicial real- ity later this fall when the Supreme Court of Canada rules on a case involving Face- book's forum-selection clause in its terms of use, which purports to make California the destina- tion of choice for litigation. "I see it as a very important case for Canada because more and more larger social media companies are trying to use choice of law provisions and choice of venue provision basic- ally to try to remove cases that would otherwise be tried in Can- ada and move them to the U.S.," says Barry Sookman, an IT law- yer at McCarthy Tétrault LLP. "It's an extremely important case," he says. Although Douez v. Facebook Inc. comes out of the British Col- umbia Court of Appeal, it has ap- plication in other provinces. The primary issue at the cen- tre of the case is the question of when does a statute trump a choice of forum selection clause (sometimes referred to as an adhesion contract) in an online contract? The case pits B.C.'s Privacy Act against an advertisement service that Facebook no long- er offers, known as sponsored stories. Facebook created ads using its members based on their online conduct, things like playing games or clicking Like buttons. The ads depicted Face- book members as endorsers of various products and services. One of its members, Deb- orah Douez, brought a class action, alleging a breach of the province's Privacy Act. Section 3(2) of that act cre- ates a statutory cause of action when someone uses, without consent, the name or portrait of another person in advertising or promoting the sale of a property or service. Section 4 further provides that actions "must be heard and determined" by the B.C. Su- preme Court. Facebook opposed certifica- tion and sought a stay of pro- ceedings, arguing that the B.C. Court should decline to hear the case because users agreed when signing up that California was the forum for litigating disputes. Its user agreement at the time stated, "You will resolve any claim, cause of action or dispute (claim) you have with us arising out of or relating to this State- ment or Facebook exclusively in a state or federal court located in Santa Clara County." However, its terms of use also stated that "we also strive to re- spect local law," which the plain- tiff seized on as evidence that local laws should apply. At the B.C. Supreme Court, Justice S.A. Griffin referred to the Supreme Court of Canada ruling in Z.I. Pompey Indust- rie v. ECU-Line N.V., and held the party that relies on the clause must show it is "valid, clear and enforceable, and applies to the cause of action." Once that is established, the burden switches to the other party to show "strong cause" for the court to decline to enforce the forum selection clause. Griffin found that Facebook met the first part of the test, but in assessing the strong cause aspect she found that s. 4 of the Privacy Act conferred exclusive jurisdiction on the B.C. court to hear claims and that if she stayed the claim "the plaintiff would have no other jurisdic- tion to bring it." Griffin continued: "In con- trast, in the present case if the Forum Selection Clause was applied it would have the effect of being an exclusion of liability clause, given that the B.C. Pri- vacy Act cause of action only applies in British Columbia." Griffin also considered the province's Court Jurisdiction and Proceedings Transfer Act, which codifies the common law factors a court must consider when choosing to decline its territorial competence on the grounds of forum non conven- iens. That included weighing the comparative convenience and expense for the parties and their witnesses, the law to be applied and avoiding multi- plicity of proceedings. Griffin found "there will likely be less inconvenience in having the books and records of Facebook made available for inspection here in B.C. than in having the plaintiff travel to California to advance her claim." She also held that "the Cali- fornia court cannot determine that the Privacy Act does apply as those determinations are solely for this Court's jurisdic- tion. This weighs the balance heavily in favour of this Court exercising jurisdiction." The court of appeal, however, overturned that ruling, and agreed with Facebook. "In my respectful opinion, the judge erred in her interpret- ation of s. 4. She failed to give effect to the principle of terri- toriality," Chief Justice Robert Bauman wrote. Douez is now appealing that decision. Douez's factum filed at the SCC calls the terms of use "unclear" and argues that the strong cause test in Pompey should be distinguished when applied to "the arena of con- sumer contracts or in the face of statutory public interest protec- tions." While Facebook, represented by Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP lawyer Mark Gelowitz, had not filed its factum at press time, its leave factum maintains that s. 4 of the Privacy Act applies "intra- territorially" to "ensure that Privacy Act actions are heard by the B.C. Supreme Court, and not some other lower court or provincial tribunal." LT FOCUS Barry Sookman says an upcoming Supreme Court ruling related to Facebook will be a 'very important case for Canada.' Mettez vous au service de la justice et de l'histoire. La Clinique juridique Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry (située à Cornwall) cherche XQDYRFDWRXDYRFDWHGX%DUUHDXGHO¶2QWDULRKDELOHGDQVOHVGHX[ODQJXHVRI¿- cielles des tribunaux de l'Ontario (l'anglais et le français), qu'un travail stimulant et VLJQL¿FDWLIDYHFXQHpTXLSHGHFROOqJXHVSURIHVVLRQQHOVHQJDJpVSHXWSDVVLRQHU /DSHUVRQQHUHWHQXHGHYUDDLGHUOHVFOLQLTXHVMXULGLTXHVGHO¶(VWGHO¶2QWDULRHQ IDFLOLWDQWO¶DFFqVjODMXVWLFHHQIUDQoDLVSRXUOHVIUDQFRSKRQHV /HVWkFKHVSULQFLSDOHVVRQWGHIRXUQLUGHVFRQVHLOVHWODUHSUpVHQWDWLRQHQGURLW GHODSDXYUHWp\FRPSULVO¶DLGHVRFLDOHOHVTXHVWLRQVGHSHQVLRQG¶LQYDOLGLWpGH ODVpFXULWpSURIHVVLRQQHOOHHWGHO¶DVVXUDQFHO¶LQGHPQLVDWLRQGHVYLFWLPHVG¶DFWHV FULPLQHOVOHVQRUPHVG¶HPSORLOHVSURFXUDWLRQVHWOHGURLWGHODORFDWLRQLPPREL- OLqUHDLQVLTXHGHVHOLYUHUjO¶pGXFDWLRQMXULGLTXHDXSUqVGXSXEOLFHW°XYUHUSRXU ODUpIRUPHGXGURLW QUALIFICATIONS: VWDWXWGHPHPEUHHQUqJOHHQWDQWTX¶DYRFDWRXDYRFDWHDYHFOH%DUUHDXGX +DXW&DQDGD FRPSpWHQFHVHQSODLGRLULH H[FHOOHQWMXJHPHQWHWODFDSDFLWpGHUpVROXWLRQGHSUREOqPHV FDSDFLWpjWUDYDLOOHUGDQVOHFDGUHG¶XQHpTXLSH XQHDLVDQFHRUDOHHWSDUpFULWHQDQJODLVHWHQIUDQoDLVTXLVHUDVRXPLVHjGHV WHVWVULJRXUHX[ FRPSpWHQFHVHQLQIRUPDWLTXH062I¿FH YRORQWpHWFDSDFLWpGHYR\DJHUUpJXOLqUHPHQWGDQVO¶(VWGHO¶2QWDULR\FRPSULV Renfrew, Peterborough, Orillia, Cobourg, Kingston, Oshawa, Belleville et région GH%URFNYLOOH3HUPLVGHFRQGXLUHYDOLGHUHTXLV SALAIRE:6HORQO¶H[SpULHQFHDYHFHQVHPEOHFRPSOHWGHSUHVWDWLRQV DATE LIMITE: le vendredi le 19 août 2016, 16h30 SOUMETTRE DEMANDE AUPRÈS DE: /SUBMIT RESUME TO: 0DvWUH(WLHQQH6DLQW$XELQ'LUHFWHXUJpQpUDO0U(WLHQQH6DLQW$XELQ([HFXWLYH'LUHFWRU Clinique juridique Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry Legal Clinic 0F&RQQHOO Cornwall, ON K6H 4K8 7pOpFRSLH)D[ &RXUULHOGHVHUUHM#ODRRQFD(PDLOGHVHUUHM#ODRRQFD Make history as you make justice happen. 7KH6WRUPRQW'XQGDV *OHQJDUU\/HJDO&OLQLF&RUQZDOOKDVDQRSHQLQJIRUD /DZ\HURIWKH%DURI2QWDULRSUR¿FLHQWLQERWK2I¿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• 0HPEHUVKLSLQJRRGVWDQGLQJZLWKWKH/DZ6RFLHW\RI8SSHU&DQDGD (IIHFWLYHDGYRFDF\VNLOOV ([FHOOHQWMXGJPHQWDQGSUREOHPVROYLQJDELOLW\ $ELOLW\WRZRUNZHOODVSDUWRIDWHDP )OXHQF\LQERWK(QJOLVKDQG)UHQFKVXEMHFWWRULJRURXVWHVWLQJ 3UR¿FLHQWLQFRPSXWHUVNLOOV062I¿FHSURGXFWV :LOOLQJQHVVDQGDELOLW\WRWUDYHOUHJXODUO\DFURVV(DVWHUQ2QWDULRLQFOXGLQJ Renfrew, Peterborough, Orillia, Cobourg, Kingston, Oshawa, Belleville and %URFNYLOOHDUHD9DOLGGULYHUVOLFHQFHUHTXLUHG SALARY: ,QDFFRUGDQFHZLWKH[SHULHQFHFRPSUHKHQVLYHEHQH¿WSDFNDJH DEADLINE: )ULGD\$XJXVW th E\SP Untitled-2 1 2016-08-04 3:15 PM

• Cover