In a peculiar legal case, a Canadian farmer has lost over $61,000 due to a thumbs-up emoji being interpreted as a contractual agreement, which he subsequently failed to honor. The incident began when Kent Mickleborough, a grain buyer, initially texted a client named Chris Achter in March 2021 to discuss an order of 94 tons of flax at a rate of approximately $13 per bushel for delivery in November. As reported by the CBC, Mickleborough followed up with a phone call and later sent Achter a picture of a contract for the November delivery, requesting confirmation. To signify acknowledgement, Achter responded with a thumbs-up emoji. However, the flax was not delivered as agreed upon, leading Mickleborough to take legal action, according to the BBC.
Achter explained that the thumbs-up emoji was simply to indicate receipt of the message, stating, “I did not have time to review the Flax Contract and merely wanted to indicate that I did receive his text message.” Nevertheless, Mickleborough argued that Achter had previously used text messages to agree to contracts, leading him to believe that the deal had been finalized. The judge sided with Mickleborough, ruling that an emoji can be considered a digital signature. As a result, Achter was fined for breaching the contract. (Read more emoji stories.)
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