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People, the defendant had a history of using ๐to accept a contract with the aggrieved. Had done it NP a dozen times before. He was trying to use a technicality to weasel out of breaching a contract he obviously agreed to when he couldnโt fulfill it.
Not only that but by the end of the contract price was up, so farmer would not make as much as on the free market.
Did the article actually say he accepted with thumbs up before? Thought it just said he'd accepted via text.
The point is that now there's a precedent and going forward, that emoji counts as a signature
Not quite, and for 2 reasons:
I don't think this is particularly surprising. Handshakes can form legal contracts, and contracts can be formed orally. There's no reason why an image couldn't indicate acceptance of a contract, generally speaking (certain specific types of contract may require additional formalities).
Handshakes can form legal contracts, and contracts can be formed orally.
While true, these are terrible forms of contract agreement for anything of value, and specifically when there are no witnesses. One person could easily claim that "I heard them say something else" or "We didn't shake on anything!".
As for emojis, you can interpret them in 101 ways, and that's assuming both parties are using the same emoji icon set! Some look different depending on the platform, and some have completely different meanings without even knowing it! When I get an emoji on my business email, it doesn't even show up as an emoji!
A "thumbs up", in my book, is not an agreement to a contract. I want a clear written acknowledgement and/or a signature. Anything less could be hard to prove or completely denied as even happening.
Completely agree, and anyone with any foresight would insist on something more robust. But very often the courts have to deal with situations where the parties did not have that foresight and instead proceeded to do business with one another on the basis of informal or very flimsily documented arrangements. And it falls to the court to look at what little evidence there is and determine (to the extent they can) whether there was an agreement and, if so, what the agreement entailed.
You would actually be surprised just how much business is conducted like this.
You would actually be surprised just how much business is conducted like this.
I'm sure I'd be surprised!
To be honest, I feel that the defendant's argument that โI did not have time to review the Flax Contract and merely wanted to indicate that I did receive his text message.โ, is valid, since he interpreted the thumbs up as a sign of acknowledgement, not an acceptance to the contract.
The courts, however, used a third party's interpretation of what the emoji could mean, which I don't think was right.
"Achterโs lawyers argued that allowing an emoji to act as a signature or acceptance for contracts would open the flood gates for cases interpreting the meaning of the images."
I totally agree with that sentiment.
Imagine texting your spouse various food emojis, including an eggplant, hot dog, banana, and peach, as you were at the grocery store. Your spouse comes back with a thumb's up emoji. Would the courts say that the spouse was agreeing to consensual sex or a shopping list? There are so many ways I can see this ruling creating problems where none currently exist.
Would the courts say that the spouse was agreeing to consensual sex or a shopping list?
Context matters and I'd call this a straw man argument.
"Achterโs lawyers argued that allowing an emoji to act as a signature or acceptance for contracts would open the flood gates for cases interpreting the meaning of the images."
I totally agree with that sentiment.
When it comes down to it, is the thumbs up emoji really that different than a "yes," "X," or a signature? In the past people just gave their mark when agreeing to something and it doesn't appear that there were any standards as to what that mark would be. If someone hands you a contract and you write an 'X' on the signature line, how does that differ from an actual signature?
Letters and language are meant to convey meaning and it seems that meaning was conveyed here. Someone else also commented that this person had a history of using the emoji to agree to things which just lends further credence to my point.
I think the argument is that both parties need to be clear that they understand what an acceptable form of approval would be. If that's an "x", or a signature, or a verbal approval, great, but both parties need to agree to this.
In this case, it's clear that the defendant didn't intend to use the thumbs up as an approval of the contract, so the courts should have been on his side.
Plus, for an $80,000 contract, you'd think there would be at least another confirmation that the order was placed or to confirm a day/time that delivery would be made? It almost feels like the plaintiff was banking on tricking the defendant into agreeing to something by accident, rather than being a professional about it.
The buyer, Kent Mickleborough, later spoke with Swift Current farmer Chris Achter on the phone and texted a picture of a contract to deliver the flax in November, adding โplease confirm flax contract.โ
Achter texted back a thumbs-up emoji. But when November came around, the flax was not delivered and prices for the crop had increased.
Mickleborough said the emoji amounted to an agreement because he had texted numerous contracts to Achter, who previously confirmed through text message and always fulfilled the order.
I think it's pretty clear he did intend the emoji to mean he agreed to the contract as he'd done this multiple times prior. It seems the only difference in this instance is that when it came time to deliver, the market price was higher meaning he could sell it for more money if that contract didn't exist. If he had no intention of following through and that the emoji only meant he "acknowledged receiving the contract", why didn't he ever once indicate his intent to the buyer in the 5 months between receiving the contract and the delivery date (which was outlined in the contract as indicated in the article).
You claim you suspect the plaintiff was trying to trick the defendant (by agreeing to give him $80k for grain?) but to me it seems like the opposite. It seems like the defendent was trying to give himself room to weasel out of the agreement if it meant more money in his pocket and by giving a someone ambiguous response, attempted to set up plausible deniability if it ever came to this. It didn't work out for him though.
Holy actual shit, this entire time i thought the thumbs up guy was the BUYER, not the seller! LOL That makes way more sense, now ๐
I think the personal historical context between the two parties is the important part here. Reading the article, I get the impression that this was not the first instance of these two conducting business in this way.
If the buyer has previous experience with the seller responding to a contract with a thumbs up and then processing to fulfill that contact, why wouldn't they interpret that as acceptance in this case?
To use your own analogy, it would be like a couple who regularly texts ๐๐๐ฅ๐ญ๐๐๐ง๐๏ธ - ๐ to indicate sexy times having one party reinterpret that meaning suddenly when it's convenient for them.
A single character emoji could easily be a typo as well.
Agree in that while verbally is fully a contract it is hard to verify unless recorded and possibly witnessed. Point being it is as legal as a written which many people do not understand.
As for the thumb up emoji, this particular person has used it in past and had a history of using it to approve services. In that context I think it is fully legitimate to hold him to it. Barring that, yes I agree on most cases it will not suffice as a legal document. It is much the same way a China often uses English for legal contracts as their written language has too many interpretations.
As for the thumb up emoji, this particular person has used it in past and had a history of using it to approve services. In that context I think it is fully legitimate to hold him to it.
I think this is the key. Since he has used the thumbs up in the past to agree to a contract, he's fully aware of the connotations of using it. Had there not been that understanding, I would have given him the benefit of the doubt.
๐ can also be sarcastic, like your contract is so dumb, I'm not even properly replying to it. Such a dumb ruling.
Don't make snap judgements about rulings. Especially just on article titles. In this particular case the defendant had a history of using ๐to accept a contract. Had done it NP a dozen times before. He was trying to use a technicality to weasel out of breaching a contract when he couldn't fulfill it.
In this particular case the defendant had a history of using ๐to accept a contract. Had done it NP a dozen times before
The article doesnโt say that. It says that according to the guy who sued him, he used text message before to accept a contract. It doesnโt say that he had ever responded to a contract with a thumbs up emoji before.
โMickleborough said the emoji amounted to an agreement because he had texted numerous contracts to Achter, who previously confirmed through text message and always fulfilled the order.โ
No mention of thumbs up emoji having been used prior to this particular thumbs up emoji incident.
As such, to decide what the thumbs up emoji meant in this case, Justice Keene of the Saskatchewan Court of Kingโs Bench considered how the farmer had communicated with the grain buyer in the past. Typically, the grain buyer would text a photo of the contract to the farmer and ask him to confirm the contract. The farmer would then text back, saying โlooks goodโ, โokโ, or โyupโ. The grain buyer and farmer would then proceed on the basis they had a contract. The farmerโs brief affirmative responses therefore meant agreement, not mere acknowledgement of receipt.
Justice Keene found that โ๐โ [thumbs up] was equivalent to the farmerโs previous responses like โlooks goodโ, โokโ, and โyupโ, which all signified agreement. As such, the farmer had entered into a valid and binding contract with the grain buyer. https://www.mckercher.ca/resources/rule-of-thumb-can-an-emoji-be-a-signature
I wonder what amount of damages he was ordered to pay?
$82000CAD
Oof.
You've got a point, there's some danger here, but I would have zero sympathy if someone ignored the fact that sarcasm isn't communicated well in text.
I don't know, I think a thumbs up is clear acceptance tbh.
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That'll be $82,000 to the federation.
/s
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According to the courts you agree with this post and have not simply read the post.
I do business over text in amounts similar to this. I won't accept a contract with a thumbs up. But a change request, sure.
"Okay, we will ship you a spare set of cables at a cost of $10/day, plus shipping expenses. Please acknowledge this as acceptable"
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So in America we have lawyer dawg, and in Canada we have the ๐ contract. Fantastic legal systems. ๐