Canadian farmer ordered to pay more than $92,000 after confusion over the meaning of a thumbs-up emoji
A Canadian judge has ordered a farmer to pay more than $CAD82,000 ($92,000) in damages following a legal battle over what the thumbs-up emoji means.
Chris Achter, the owner of a farming company in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, had sent a thumbs-up emoji in response to a photograph of a flax-buying contract from a grains buyer in 2021.
Months later, the buyer — which had been doing business with Mr Achter for several years — did not receive the flax as expected.
That started a dispute that led to "a far-flung search" to unearth what the thumbs-up emoji means, according to the June court ruling that surfaced in local media this week.
The buyer, South West Terminal, argued that the emoji implied acceptance of contractual terms, while Mr Achter said he used it only to indicate that he had received the contract, but not to indicate his agreement.
In a summary judgement that contained 24 instances of the emoji, Judge T J Keene resolved the issue by ruling that a thumbs-up emoji is enough to accept contractual terms.
He said: "I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that Chris okayed or approved the contract just like he had done before except this time he used a thumbs-up emoji."
"In my opinion the signature requirement was met by the thumbs-up emoji originating from Chris and his unique cell phone," the judge said.
Reuters
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