Vending

Canada vending operator wins case against school district over contract termination

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December 9, 2022

A British Columbia court has ruled in favor of a vending operator against a school district for terminating his service contract in 2017, according to a cbc.ca report.

The Vancouver School District terminated vending operator Po Hua Ma's five-year contract in 2017 after he installed vending machines at a secondary school in 2015.

The district claimed Ma did not abide by the requirement that half of the products qualify as "healthier options." The district instructed him to remove guideline-breaking options before the end of 2016 or lose the contract.

The district claimed Ma consistently breached the rules with expired food, unhealthy snacks and toys, then terminated the contract. Ma then sued for loss of income.

Ma claimed a snack shop inside the school was selling instant noodles to summer school students. He took pictures of the machines, which the district claimed he was not allowed to do. The district then banned him from the campus after he refused to delete the pictures.

Ma said he was not aware of the privacy rule, nor was he aware that the noodles were being provided for classes that were not run by the district.

The judge ruled that the district terminated the contract without cause and awarded Ma $1,000.

Ma had asked for $3,000, but the judge said there was insufficient evidence that he lost that amount.