2023-07-06 16:07:13
A simple thumbs up emoji can be the equivalent of a signature in contracts, a Saskatchewan court has ruled.
In a judgement handed down last month, the court found farmer Chris Achter guilty of breach of contract after he failed to deliver flaxseed, an agreement that was sealed by the use of the famous emoji via text messages .
In March 2021, an agricultural representative on behalf of South West Terminal Ltd., Kent Mickleborough, messaged several grain growers to source 86 tonnes of flaxseed. After receiving a positive response from Achter Land & Cattle, Mr. Mickleborough sent a completed document to Mr. Achter via text message, asking him to confirm the contract, to which Mr. Achter responded with an emoji of thumb up.
The delivery never took place, however, and the judge sentenced Mr. Achter to pay the plaintiff $82,000.
In court, the defendant argued that the emoji was not the symbol of an agreement, but rather that of confirmation of receipt of the contract. He added that he would never have accepted the contract in the submitted version and that he was waiting for a more complete version by email.
In his judgment, Judge TJ Keene notes that the court recognizes that an emoji represents an untraditional method of sealing a contract, but that in the circumstances it was valid.
Several contracts between the two men had already been sealed by text messages in the past using words as simple as “ok” or “yup”, also noted the judge.
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