Appeal dismissed in Sask. 'thumbs up' emoji case
CTV
An appeal to a legal case that made international headlines has been dismissed by Saskatchewan's highest court.
An appeal to a legal case that made international headlines has been dismissed by Saskatchewan’s highest court.
The Court of Appeal of Saskatchewan upheld the original verdict – which found that a “thumbs up” emoji was a legally binding agreement between Achter Land & Cattle Ltd. (ALC) and South West Terminal Ltd. (SWT)
On March 26, 2021, a representative of SWT sent a text to the owners of Achter with details of a flax delivery agreement. Following several calls, the contract was drafted.
The SWT representative took a photo of the signed contract and sent it to one of Achter’s owners with the message, "Please confirm flax contract."
The Achter owner responded with a "thumbs up" emoji with no accompanying text.
However, the 87 metric tonnes of flax was not delivered to SWT in November.
SWT sued ALC to enforce the contract it claimed was formed in the exchange – while ALC asserted there was no agreement, and if there was one, it would be unenforceable due to Section 6(1) of The Sale of Goods Act.
