A special legal case began in Saskatchewan, Canada in March 2021.
Canadian the farmer has to pay the company $82,000 for breach of contract, as the court interpreted the use of the thumbs-up emoticon as acceptance of the contract, according to a US news channel CNN.
The special legal case started in March 2021, when the South West Terminal company wanted to buy batches of flax from grain producers. The company made an agreement with a farmer for the purchase and delivery of 86 tons of linen in November of the same year.
South West Terminal sent the farmer a picture of the signed contract on his cell phone. There was a request to confirm the contract. According to records from the Supreme Court of the State of Saskatchewan, the farmer responded to the message with thumbs up emojis, CNN reports.
Farmer did not supply linen. A representative of South West Terminal stated in the minutes that he had previously made at least four contracts with the same farmer via text message. Previously, however, he had confirmed contracts instead of thumbs up by answering “ok”, “yeah” or “looks good”.
According to the farmer, he only communicated with the thumb emoticons that he had received the message. He said it was his understanding that a contract with all the terms and conditions would be faxed or emailed to him later for his signature.
The farmer’s legal assistant had also warned in the minutes that if the thumbs-up emoji was found in court to signify approval, it would “open the gates to all kinds of legal cases asking the meaning of different emojis – what does a handshake emoji mean, what does a fist emoji mean, and so on.”
Judge however, ended up settling the case in favor of the South West Terminal company. According to him, considering all aspects of the case, it could be considered that the agreement had been accepted. The farmer was ordered to pay the company $82,000 with interest for the failure to deliver the flax, as well as legal costs.
Neither side could be reached for comment by CNN.
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