Canada Case Law

Young v. Gore Mutual Insurance Company

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Leave to amend was granted because the proposed amendments disclosed reasonable causes of action, the delay in pleading personal injury claims was explained and not sufficiently prejudicial given the close factual connection to existing claims and available time before trial, and allowing the amendments better serves the interests of justice than preserving the limitation defence to trial; costs were awarded against the plaintiffs for the application.

Source excerpt

• Amendment of pleadings
• Limitation periods
• Trespass to land
• Negligence
• Psychological injury
• Solicitor-client privilege

Read case analysis

TM v Canada Employment Insurance Commission

Court

Social Security Tribunal of Canada

Member found that coworkers’ remarks were discriminatory and created a hostile work environment that caused credible psychological injury to the appellant given his history as a Syrian war survivor; his fear and impairment made remediation unreasonable and his later attempt to return for financial survival did not negate that he had no reasonable alternative at the time, therefore he had just cause and is not disqualified from EI benefits.

Source excerpt

• Voluntary leaving
• Just cause
• Discrimination
• Hostile work environment
• Psychological injury
• Reasonable alternative

Read case analysis

Palmer v. Teva Canada Limited

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

Certification was properly dismissed because the pleadings did not disclose a viable cause of action: alleged genotoxic changes and an increased future cancer risk are non-materialized harms not compensable in negligence; psychological distress from the recall did not meet the legal threshold of serious, prolonged injury reasonably foreseeable in a person of ordinary fortitude; remaining claims (pure economic loss, consumer protection, competition, battery, unjust enrichment) lacked the necessary elements or were doctrinally inapplicable; common issues and preferability criteria were not sati…

Source excerpt

• Certification
• Negligence
• Psychological injury
• Genotoxicity
• Pure economic loss
• Battery

Read case analysis

De Reyes v. Fabiszewski

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court found the 2016 collision caused chronic pain and psychological injury, awarding damages for pain and suffering, income loss, future care and special damages.

• Causation
• Non-pecuniary damages
• Loss of earning capacity
• Future care
• Assessment of damages
• Psychological injury

Read case analysis

Dussiaume v. Sandoz Canada Inc.

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court struck and dismissed claims in a proposed ranitidine class action, holding that increased risk, anxiety, cellular change, and medical monitoring claims were not actionable as pleaded.

• Failure to warn
• Medical monitoring
• Psychological injury
• Causation
• Recall
• Toxic exposure (ndma)

Read case analysis

Wishart v. Mirhadi

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The Court found the 2018 collision aggravated pre-existing neck and thoracic pain, caused costochondritis and anxiety, but not the rib subluxation, and awarded $254,755.

• Causation
• Non-pecuniary damages
• Loss of earning capacity
• Future care
• Housekeeping capacity
• Pre-existing conditions

Read case analysis

Suri v. Thomasen

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court awarded damages after four admitted motor vehicle accidents caused chronic physical and psychological injuries and rejected the defendants’ mitigation arguments.

• Causation
• Mitigation
• Non-pecuniary damages
• Past income loss
• Future loss of earning capacity
• Costs of future care

Read case analysis

Jenkins v. Casey

Court

British Columbia Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal from a personal injury damages award, finding the trial judge’s credibility findings, causation analysis, and treatment of mitigation were supported by the evidence.

• Causation
• Credibility assessment
• Pre-existing condition
• Mitigation
• Non-pecuniary damages
• Loss of earning capacity

Read case analysis

Good v. Buljan

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court found the plaintiff proved only limited consequences of the Accident: while short-term low back and neck injuries occurred, the plaintiff failed to prove on a balance of probabilities that the Accident caused the majority of his ongoing complaints or aggravated psychological conditions due to gaps in temporal connection, intervening events (notably a 2019 fall), deficiencies in the factual basis of expert opinions and credibility issues; the only award made was $40,000 for non-pecuniary damages and all other heads of damage were dismissed for lack of proven causation or insufficient…

Source excerpt

• Causation
• Non-pecuniary damages
• Loss of future earning capacity
• Cost of future care
• Psychological injury
• Crumbling skull doctrine

Read case analysis

Thompson v. Masse

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court found the second driver liable and awarded damages for two motor vehicle accidents, including pain and suffering, income loss, housekeeping loss, and future care.

• Liability
• Causation
• Non-pecuniary damages
• Loss of earning capacity
• Cost of future care
• Loss of housekeeping capacity

Read case analysis