Can a garnishee be held liable for the full amount of a plaintiff’s claim?
Alberta, Canada
The following excerpt is from Hudson's Bay Company v. B.D.C. Ltd., 1977 CanLII 583 (AB QB):
Counsel also cited Randall v. Lithgow (1884), 12 Q.B.D. 525. There an order nisi attaching all debts owing by the garnishee to answer the debt was obtained, requiring the garnishee to attend and show cause why it should not pay. It did not attend and judgment for the amount of the plaintiff’s claim was entered. The garnishee then came forward to interplead. The court held that the judgment obtained against it by default was regular. Again, the garnishee had failed to appear and it was properly held liable for the full amount claimed (subject to whatever rights it might have had to set aside the judgment nisi). It stands for the same proposition, namely, that in default of appearance, the garnishee may be held liable for the full amount.
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