Time out

LawNow, Sept-Oct, 2007 by Teresa Mitchell

A French-speaking Quebecer thought he'd struck it rich when he opened his mail after a vacation and found an English language announcement from Time Inc. stating that he had won a cash prize of $833,337. No prize was forthcoming and Time Inc pointed to the fine print that made the prize conditional on his having the "winning entry". He sued for his prize money and, in the alternative, for punitive damages for humiliation and distress. Madame Justice Cohen of the Quebec Superior Court ruled that Time Inc. could deny the prize in contract on the basis of the free print. However, she also ruled that the company had breached the Province's Consumer Protection Act, which prohibits false or misleading misrepresentations. She wrote, "It is patently obvious to any reader that the mailing from Time was not only false and incomplete, it was specifically designed to be misleading, both in the words chosen, the size of the conditions or disclaimers, and their ambiguity, especially to a person who is not reading in his or her mother tongue." She awarded the plaintiff $100,000 in punitive damages.

Richard v. Time Inc., 2007 QCCS 3390 (CANLII)