Professional Discipline

You read right. College of Optometrists of Ontario v. SHS Optical Ltd., 2009 ONCA sees the Ontario Court of Appeal upholding a major contempt penalty against a business that was continually operating in violation of a number of previous Court orders and contrary to their regulatory framework and direction given by their governing body. The penalty works out to $50,000.00 per violation day.

The case is an extreme example and the Court had this to say:

[23] Obviously, the fine imposed is a very significant one. However, the brazen nature
of the appellants ‘ contempt, its lengthy and ongoing nature, and the risk to the public
health and safety posed by the appellants’ conduct demanded a substantial fine that
would act as a strong disincentive to the continuation of this kind of conduct.
[24] The appellants were fully aware, given the terms of the order of Crane J., of the
financial risk they ran if they chose to continue to operate in violation of court orders.
Knowledge that they faced a fine of up to $50,000 a day did not deter the appellants from
continuing to operate their business in violation of court orders. The $1,000,000 fine
imposed by Crane J. was similarly ineffective. The appellants are business people. One
can only assume that they judged the financial risk associated with non-compliance and
deemed that risk worth the potential financial gain occasioned by continued operation in
violation of the court order. The fact that the appellants, having been fined $1,000,000,
carried on their operation in violation of an order knowing that they faced potentially
huge penalties, speaks loudly to the need for a very significant penalty.