The charges laid under the Liquor Licence Act against the directors, manager and bartenders of the Lake Joseph Club illustrate all too vividly the vulnerability of directors and officers to legal liability.

MOE investigators have followed the practice of going before a Justice of the Peace to obtain an order under section 163.1(2) of the Environmental Protection Act to compel officials of companies being investigated to submit to an interview and produce documents.

The Alberta Court of Appeal recently handed down a decision in which a director of a construction company was found personally liable for 50% of the damages in a case involving a death in the workplace.

In May of this year, the Ontario Court of Appeal released its decision in the case of Kerr v. Loblaws.

Kerr had slipped on a grape on the floor of a store and suffered injuries valued at in excess of $58,000 by the jury at the trial.

Transport Canada recently made public the results of a safety audit on CN Rail and it was very unfavourable targeting “safety defects,” management practices and a failure to comply with regulations.

In July, 2009, SNC-Lavalin Power Ontario was fined $300,000 in a Health and Safety conviction.

In June, six companies were assessed an average of over $65,000 in fines under the same statute.