KITCHENER — The case of the "haunted" labour hall has finally been laid to rest by the highest court in Ontario.
Trajan Fisca hoped to get $1 million in compensation because nobody told him a three-storey building in downtown Kitchener had ghosts before he bought it in 2010.
But after launching a lawsuit on that basis and getting short shrift from a local judge, Fisca didn't fare any better when he took his complaint to the Ontario Court of Appeal.
In a one-page ruling Monday, a three-judge panel dismissed his bid to get a trial to show how the building is "stigmatized" and therefore worth much less than he paid.
The panel noted there is no direct evidence of financial loss or testimony from anyone "who observed any strange occurrences in the property."
Fisca purchased the historic 1922 building at 137-147 King St. E. from the K-W Labour Association for $650,000.
Soon after, an executive for the association joked to a Record reporter about the building being haunted, a story he later said he had heard over drinks at a bar.
When his lighthearted comments appeared in print, Fisca claimed he should have been informed of the "existence of a death and/or murder" at the property and that he had essentially been sold damaged goods.
Justice James Sloan ruled last fall that there wasn't enough substance to the case — which named the association and two real estate agents as defendants — to even go to trial.
"In essence what we have is a double hearsay rumour about a ghost from a couple of people after they had consumed a few beers at a social function," he wrote.
While upholding Sloan’s ruling, the appeal court also ordered Fisca to pay more than $6,000 in legal costs.
No comments:
Post a Comment