RP Blog

By Ankita Abraham, Student-at-Law The court’s decision in Lloyd v. Bush, 2020 ONSC 842 dealt with the issue of liability in a collision involving the plaintiff and a defendant truck driver. It was alleged that the municipal defendants, County of Lennox and Addington and the Town of Greater Napanee, wereRead More

By Alon Barda The Licence Appeal Tribunal (“LAT”) recently released the first reconsideration decision applying the Court of Appeal’s decision in Tomec v. Economical Mutual Insurance Company.[1] In Tomec, the applicant applied for and was denied attendant care and housekeeping benefits on the grounds that such benefits are not availableRead More

The court’s decision in Allstate Insurance Company v. Her Majesty the Queen, 2020 ONSC 830, shows that automobile insurers must comply with statutory requirements when cancelling policies, or else there can be costly consequences. In May 2014, Allstate sent the claimant a notice by registered mail that his policy wouldRead More

In Rubner v. Waddington McLean & Co. Limited, 2020 ONSC 692, Justice Myers allowed a successful self-represented plaintiff to recover costs in the amount of $100 per hour. Justice Myers indicated that the plaintiff is entitled to compensation for time that would otherwise have been spent by a lawyer. TheRead More

People who post defamatory statements on the Internet can be found liable for damages even if their identities are not known at the time of the court hearing. In Theralase Technologies Inc. v. Lanter, 2020 ONSC 205, the defendants posted defamatory statements on a website that was aimed at investors. TheRead More

When an automobile insurer accepts priority for a statutory accident benefits claim, it is very difficult to withdraw or resile from that position except in extreme situations, such as when there is bad faith or deliberate misrepresentation. In Pembridge Insurance Company v. The Sovereign General Insurance Company, 2019 ONSC 7291, the injured claimantRead More

The Court of Appeal released an interesting decision yesterday regarding the need to be fully candid in applications for life insurance. In Mohammad v. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company, 2020 ONCA 57, the deceased was part of a terrorist group outside of Canada. In 1968, he stormed a civilian aircraft throwingRead More

Should a person accused of sexual abuse be permitted to sit in on the examination for discovery of the alleged victim? This issue was considered in G.S. v. K.C., 2020 ONSC 210. C.H. alleged that he was sexually abused by a family member when he was a minor. This was denied byRead More

Sometimes plaintiffs will only agree to attend defence medical exams if they do not have to sign anything or complete any forms. In Coll v. Robertson, 2020 ONSC 383, Justice Grace held that this is improper. His Honour said that, when plaintiffs attend defence medical exams, they must complete questionnairesRead More

In Karpouzis v. Toronto (City of), 2020 ONSC 143, the plaintiff went skateboarding on a trail in a City of Toronto park in the middle of the night. The trail was dark. The plaintiff was 34 years old at the time. He was a very experienced skateboarder. He fell and sustainedRead More

The court’s decision in Metropolitan Toronto Condominium Corporation No. 933 v. Lyn, 2020 ONSC 196, involved two tenants in a high-rise condominium building in downtown Toronto. They are neighbours. After Kalicharan moved into her unit, Rosenstrom began to experience noise issues, such as extremely loud music and loud television shows comingRead More

By Brian Sunohara The court recently released a decision that will be of interest to insurers and counsel handling first party claims. In Kanani v. Economical Insurance, 2019 ONSC 7201, the plaintiffs brought a motion to compel an insurer to produce reserve information in an accident benefits claim. Justice NadeauRead More

Plaintiffs sometimes attempt to rely on similar fact evidence to prove liability. Similar fact evidence is evidence of past misconduct of a defendant for the purpose of inferring that the defendant is liable for the incident in question. Similar fact evidence was addressed in the recent decision of SecurityInChina InternationalRead More

In Riggs Estate v. Intact, 2019 ONSC 6846, the terms of a global settlement of a tort claim and an accident benefits claim were agreed to at a private mediation. The claimant unexpectedly died before executing a release and a Settlement Disclosure Notice with respect to the accident benefits claim. TheseRead More

The trial decision in Onley v. Town of Whitby, 2020 ONSC 20, shows that unfortunate accidents can occur but that no one is liable. The plaintiff was 18 years old and was playing in a soccer game. She sustained an electric shock as she was sitting near a light poleRead More

Section 132 of the Insurance Act permits a plaintiff to commence a direct action against an insurer when an insured is liable for injury or damage and fails to satisfy a judgment, except in relation to motor vehicle liability policies. The plaintiff is subject to the same equities as the insurer would haveRead More

The decision in Loye v. Bowers, 2019 ONSC 7143, involved a jury trial in a personal injury action. Through inadvertence, the plaintiff did not enter his income tax returns into evidence before closing his case. The plaintiff brought a motion to re-open his case. Justice J.R. Turnbull took into account the factors outlined byRead More

When an automobile accident occurs outside of Ontario, in particular, in another province or territory of Canada, or in the United States, a claimant may elect to receive either Ontario-level benefits or benefits under the law of the jurisdiction where the accident occurred as if the person was a residentRead More

In Rooplal v. Fodor, 2019 ONSC 7211, the Divisional Court agreed with the decision of the motion judge, Justice Chiappetta, that the limitation period for claims for uninsured automobile coverage only begins to run when the plaintiff makes a claim for indemnity to the insurer and the insurer fails to satisfyRead More

A decision released by the Court of Appeal yesterday addresses the principles of punitive damages. In Cable Assembly Systems Ltd. v. Barnes, 2019 ONCA 1013, the Court of Appeal noted that punitive damages should only be awarded on an exceptional basis for “malicious, oppressive and high-handed misconduct that offends the court’sRead More

In Galea v. Best Water Limited, 2019 ONSC 7213, the defendant requested production of certain “foundational information” of the plaintiff’s expert, including information on the type of testing performed, raw data, and photographs. The requirement to produce “foundational information” is mandated by rule 53.03(2.1) of the Rules of Civil Procedure.Read More

In Clarke v. Tennant, 2019 ONSC 7222, costs were ordered against one of three defendants at a pre-trial conference. The action arose out of a motor vehicle accident. At a mediation, the defendant, Silcox, was prepared to settle for a significant amount.  However, at the pre-trial conference, Silcox maintained aRead More

In Mundinger v. Ashton, 2019 ONSC 7161, one of the issues addressed was the definition of loss of competitive advantage and its relationship with loss of future income. Justice Charney noted that an award for loss of competitive advantage is expressed as damages in recognition of the fact that aRead More

In Davies v. The Corporation of the Municipality of Clarington et al, 2019 ONSC 6895, Justice Woodley went over the test to set aside a registrar’s order dismissing an appeal for delay. The test is: whether the appellant had an intention to appeal within the time for bringing an appealRead More

In Wellington Condo. Corp. No. 31 v. Silberberg et al, 2019 ONSC 6594, the Silberbergs smoked on their balcony from time to time. The condominium’s rules permitted smoking on balconies. However, the condominium began to receive complaints about smoking from other people living in the building. Due to the complaints, the applicableRead More

Parties to a lawsuit usually have the right to be present at the discoveries of all other parties. However, the court has discretion to order otherwise. In Findlay v. Yagminas, 2019 ONSC 6743, the court outlined the factors to consider in determining whether co-parties should be excluded from each other’s discoveries.Read More

Generally, the first party to serve a sworn affidavit of documents and a notice of examination is entitled to examine the opposing party for discovery before being examined himself or herself. However, the decision in Lambert v. Maracle, 2019 ONSC 7003, shows that, in order to rely on this rule,Read More

A plaintiff has five years to set an action down for trial, or else the action will be dismissed for delay by the registrar. If the action cannot be set down within five years, the parties can consent to a timetable at least 30 days prior to the expiry ofRead More

In Hadzic et al v. Croxford, 2019 ONSC 6839, the Divisional Court considered an appeal by the plaintiff following a jury trial arising from a motor vehicle accident. Prior to trial, the defendant offered to settle for $150,000, net of the deductible, plus costs. The jury awarded $15,000 for generalRead More

Last week, the Court of Appeal released an important decision for rental car companies and their insurers. Section 277(1.1) of the Insurance Act contains a priority scheme for accidents involving rented or leased vehicles. The provision states as follows: (1.1) Despite subsection (1), if an automobile is leased, the followingRead More

The Supreme Court of Canada recently denied leave to appeal in the case of Gendron v. Doug C. Thompson Ltd. (Thompson Fuels).  This brings an end to a lawsuit that determined several important issues. Facts The case arose out of an oil leak. Approximately one week into trial, the plaintiffRead More

The case of Pembridge Insurance Company of Canada v. Chu, 2019 ONCA 904, arose out of a motor vehicle accident. The plaintiff sued Fabrizi alleging that he drove through a red light and caused her injuries. Fabrizi commenced a third party claim against Chu. Fabrizi alleged that Chu drove negligently. FabriziRead More