Justice of the Peace Joanna T Opalinski imposed a CAD80,000 fine and a 25% victim-fine surcharge on Sobeys Capital Inc for violating the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act.

The provincial ministry of labour's investigation found that a dock bridge had neither been installed according to the manufacturer's instructions nor properly maintained. Sobeys pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that the dock bridge was maintained in good condition.

On 10 October 2008, a worker was using a small forklift to unload skids of ice cream from a truck trailer that was parked at the loading dock of a Sobeys grocery store on Front Street in Toronto. A metal plate functioning as a dock bridge was attached to the dock floor to span the gap between the dock and the trailer.

The dock bridge bounced as the worker drove the forklift across and came to rest 15 cm above the trailer bed. After picking up a skid with the forklift, the worker drove in reverse out of the trailer, but his leg became jammed between the forklift and the raised dock plate and was broken.

The case in the Ontario Court of Justice in Toronto was concluded on 28 April.

Parent company Sobeys Inc operates more than 1,300 retail grocery stores in Canada and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Empire Co Ltd of Stellarton, Nova Scotia.