Executive Summary: Key Legal and Evidentiary Issues

• The court had to decide whether William Harding's 2019 income tax return was relevant to his wrongful dismissal claim, given pleadings suggesting he was induced to leave a prior business.
• Fairwater sought production of the plaintiff's complete, unredacted February 2020 Rogers cell phone bill, 23 of 27 pages of which had been withheld.
• Plaintiff's counsel argued that a post-hearing email disclaiming an inducement argument made the 2019 tax return irrelevant, without amending the pleadings.
• Redaction of family members' call records was contested on privacy grounds, requiring the court to apply the two-part test of irrelevance plus genuine sensitivity.
• Fairwater additionally requested two extra hours of oral discovery beyond the standard seven-hour limit under Rule 31.05.1.
• Costs of the motion were left unresolved, with a schedule set for written submissions if the parties could not agree.

Facts of the case

William Harding was hired as President and Chief Investment Officer of Fairwater Capital Corporation on January 2, 2020, and was terminated from that role on or about June 29, 2020. He sued for wrongful dismissal damages totaling $990,000, plus interest and costs. During discovery, a dispute arose over two matters: whether Harding had to answer questions about, and produce, his 2019 Canadian income tax return, and whether he had to produce the remaining 23 of 27 pages of his February 2020 Rogers cell phone bill, which he said related to his spouse's and children's calls. Fairwater brought a motion to compel answers on both points and to obtain leave for two additional hours of oral discovery.

Policy terms or contractual clauses at issue

This decision does not involve an insurance policy or a specific contractual clause in dispute. The document is silent on the precise terms of Harding's employment contract; the relevant pleadings referenced are paragraphs 4 through 7 of the Amended Statement of Claim, which describe Harding's professional background, his prior business, and the circumstances under which he accepted the Fairwater role, without using the word "inducement" itself.

Reasoning and analysis

Associate Justice Barnes found that Harding's pleadings, while not explicitly alleging inducement, "certainly suggest" it, making his pre-Fairwater earnings and business history relevant to calculating wrongful dismissal damages. The court rejected Harding's argument that prior endorsements from Justice Merritt (directing production of 2020–2022 tax returns) limited Fairwater's ability to seek the 2019 return, and held that relevance is determined by the pleadings, not by what a party later characterizes as a "live issue." A June 12, 2026 email from Harding's counsel stating he would not argue inducement at trial did not relieve the production obligation, since no formal pleadings amendment had been made; the court relied on AltaLink L.P. et al v. SNC-Lavalin et al, 2022 ABQB 585, for the principle that the scope of discovery is fixed by the pleadings as they stood when the question was asked. On the Rogers bill, the court applied the framework from McGee v. London Life Insurance Co., 2010 ONSC 1408, and Jones v. I.F. Propco, 2019 ONSC 23, holding that redaction requires both irrelevance and genuine sensitivity, and found that basic call records of the plaintiff's family did not meet that threshold, especially given their potential relevance to Fairwater's after-acquired cause allegation concerning Harding's whereabouts. On the discovery extension, the court weighed the seven factors under Rule 31.05.1(2), including the significant amount claimed, the number of refusals later withdrawn, and the improper withholding of records, in favour of granting more time, though it limited the extension to 90 minutes rather than the two hours requested.

Ruling and overall outcome

The court granted Fairwater Capital Corporation's motion. Harding was ordered to provide his 2019 tax return documentation (if filed), along with any related Notices of Assessment or Reassessment, and to produce the remaining 23 pages of his February 2020 Rogers cell phone bill in full, unredacted form. The court also granted Fairwater leave for further oral discovery of Harding, though it limited this to 90 minutes rather than the two hours sought. No specific monetary amount was awarded on this motion; costs of the motion itself were left for the parties to negotiate, with a written submission schedule set if they could not agree (Fairwater's outline due July 21, 2026, and Harding's response due July 28, 2026). The $990,000 figure referenced in the decision reflects the damages Harding is claiming in the underlying wrongful dismissal action, not an amount decided by this ruling.