A court case involving a farmer and a thumbs up emoji could be heading to Canada’s highest court.
After two unsuccessful challenges in Saskatchewan courtrooms, agriculture company Achter Land & Cattle Ltd. is headed to the Supreme Court.
In December, the court of appeal upheld a 2023 Court of King’s Bench verdict that found a thumbs-up emoji met signature requirements and was a legally binding agreement between farmer Chris Achter and Kent Mickleborough, a grain buyer with Southwest Terminal (SWT).
In March 2021, Mickleborough sent a text of the contract to Achter for a delivery of 87 tonnes of flax. The farmer responded with a thumbs-up emoji but no accompanying text.
Achter didn’t deliver the product, and the company took him to court for breaching the contract. The farmer was ordered to pay more than $82,000 plus interest and court costs to SWT.
“That was just one of several short confirmatory text messages that Mr. Achter habitually used to enter into contracts,” SWT lawyer Joshia Morrison said.
Achter had argued the emoji only indicated he had received the contract, and he didn’t have time to read it over.
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Mickleborough argued the emoji amounted to an agreement, because he had previously texted numerous contracts to Achter, who would then confirm them via text and fulfil the order.
Legal expert Michael Ilg said the context of the previous business relationship is key to this case.
“We don’t want to get carried away to indicate that simply using an emoji locks you into a contract,” Ilg said. “It has to be in context. Did someone’s use of an emoji demonstrate consent to a contract.”
The Appeal Court said the judge reached his conclusion after examining past communications between both parties, finding it was common for them to enter contracts through text messages.
The judge also pointed to a Dictionary.com definition of the thumbs-up emoji, which says it’s used to express assent, approval or encouragement in digital communications.
Now, the seller is requesting the Supreme Court of Canada consider whether a thumbs-up emoji or similar message, combined with metadata that indicates who sent the text message, can be a legally-binding signature.
“This case raises an issue of national and public importance of what constitutes an electronic signature in the digital age,” the company said in its notice of application.
It is also arguing the Supreme Court could provide guidance on what constitutes a valid electronic signature, and how the shift to digital and electronic communication will affect daily commercial transactions in Canada.
It is currently unclear if the Supreme Court will hear the case.
Morrison disagreed that the case is an issue of national importance and is a very unique case.
“I think the only thing that makes this case interesting is that there was an emoji,” Morrison explained.
“If Mr. Achter had texted back ‘okay,” and then (the product) wasn’t delivered, the case would fall with dozens of cases that look just like that from all sorts of different communication mediums (like) fax machines, telegrams, text messages, etc.”
Global News reached out to Achter’s lawyer multiple times for comment on the case but did not receive a response.
SWT said they will file a motion to dismiss in March.
— with files from The Canadian Press
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