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  • FAIR – supporting auto accident victims through advocacy and education
  • FAIR – supporting auto accident victims through advocacy and education

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Saadati v. Moorhead 2017 Supreme Court Case number 36703

by Admin4

https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/16664/index.do

[5]                              The respondents collectively admitted liability for the accident, but took the position that the appellant suffered no damage. Expert evidence was tendered on behalf of the appellant to support his claim of an injury resulting from the accident, much of which the trial judge ruled inadmissible (2013 BCSC 636, 46 B.C.L.R. (5th) 392). After weighing the admissible evidence, he concluded that the appellant had not demonstrated any physical injury resulting from the accident. Citing the test for factual causation stated in Clements v. Clements, 2012 SCC 32, [2012] 2 S.C.R. 181, at para. 46, however, he did find (at para. 50 (CanLII)) that the accident caused the appellant “psychological injuries, including personality change and cognitive difficulties”. While this finding did not rest on an identified medical cause, it was based upon the testimony of friends and family of the appellant to the effect that, after the accident, the appellant’s personality changed for the worse. Once a funny, energetic, and charming individual, he had become sullen and prone to mood swings. Historically close relationships with family and friends had deteriorated. He complained of headaches.

[6]                              The trial judge further found that the appellant’s mental injury was aggravated by the third (September 17, 2005) accident. Applying the principle from Bradley v. Groves, 2010 BCCA 361, 326 D.L.R. (4th) 732, he found that the mental injury originally caused by the accident was indivisible from any injury caused by that later accident. Having regard to the appellant’s personality change, his loss of close personal relationships with family and friends, his age, and the period involved, the trial judge awarded him $100,000 for non-pecuniary damage. The claim for past income loss was dismissed.

[42]                          The respondents seek to have the matter returned to the Court of Appeal for determination of their alternative grounds of appeal before that court — that the trial judge erred in finding that the mental injury caused by the accident was indivisible from any injury arising from the third accident; and that the damage award was excessive. I would, instead, restore the trial judge’s award.

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