Thomas Gold Pettingill LLP is pleased to provide this online resource to our clients. Below is a searchable database of key cases impacting the defence of commercial and tort litigation. Assembled by Sarah Jones, Natasha O'Toole, and Chris Schnarr, each case is reviewed, briefly summarized, and categorized for easy access.
The plaintiffs brought an action pursuant to section 258(1) of the Insurance Act for payment of insurance monies to satisfy a judgment for damages suffered by them as a result of a single vehicle motor vehicle accident. The issue on the underlying summary judgment motion was which of Gore Mutual Insurance Company (the insurer of...
The plaintiff was seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident. The owner of the vehicle that collided with the plaintiff had given the defendant driver keys to her vehicle in order for him to retrieve his cigarettes from it. Instead of doing so, the defendant driver took the car and drove away. The defendant owner...
The plaintiffs commenced an action against the Attorney General, alleging that the Crown attorneys that prosecuted the plaintiffs' criminal charges were negligent and misfeasant. The Crown brought a motion to strike on various grounds, including pursuant to Rule 21.01(1)(a) on the grounds that the action was barred by the expiry of the limitation period. The...
The plaintiff suffered damages as a result of an oil spill and sued multiple parties including the relevant oil technician and the oil tank manufacturer. Before trial, the plaintiff and the oil tank manufacturer entered into a Pierringer agreement. The trial judge apportioned liability: 40% to the defendant oil technician and 60% to the plaintiff....
The plaintiff was injured by a passing vehicle while on the shoulder of a highway. He could not identify the owner/operator of the vehicle and commenced an action against his own insurer pursuant to the unidentified motorist provisions of his auto policy. The insurer later obtained the police file, which potentially identified the driver of...
The plaintiff sustained personal injuries as a result of a motor vehicle accident. At the time of the accident, the defendant driver was not licensed to drive. The sole issue before the court at the commencement of trial was whether the defendant driver possessed the defendant owner's vehicle with consent at the time of the...
The plaintiff was injured when the passenger of an unidentified vehicle threw eggs at her. She commenced claims against Intact pursuant to the family protection coverage endorsement to her father's auto policy, and against the Superintendent of Financial Services seeking the mandatory uninsured automobile coverage for damages occasioned by an unidentified motor vehicle when the...
The plaintiff was sexually abused by a priest when he was 11 years old and commenced an action for damages against the defendant church several years later. The church declined to admit liability until the start of trial. The trial proceeded on an assessment of damages and the plaintiff was awarded general damages in the...
The plaintiff RCMP employee alleged that he was harassed and bullied by the RCMP during his employment. The trial judge held that the tort of harassment exists in Ontario and found that certain of the plaintiff's experiences in the course of his employment with the RCMP satisfied the elements of the tort of harassment. On...
While there is no tort of harassment, an employer's mishandling of workplace harassment may increase damages for related torts and dismissal. The plaintiff was a long-time employee of the defendant company. She complained that she was sexually harassed by another employee and that employee was dismissed from the company. Several years later, the perpetrator was...
The plaintiff sustained injuries while exiting an elevator in a condominium building. She alleged that the elevator was not level with the ground when she exited. The defendants brought a motion for summary judgment seeking dismissal of the action. Justice Brown granted summary judgment for all defendants. With respect to the condominium corporation and the...
The plaintiff, a bicyclist, was struck by a vehicle in November 2011. The plaintiff commenced an action for damages in July 2015. The plaintiff sustained soft tissue injuries, which developed into chronic pain. He was unable to continue with heavy physical labour as of late 2014 (he attempted to work in labour intensive jobs until...
The plaintiff was injured in a motor vehicle accident which occurred when the driver of the vehicle in which he was a passenger lost control of the vehicle and struck a hydro pole. The plaintiff commenced an action for damages against the relevant municipality for non-repair of the roadway, alleging that the accident was caused...
A minor plaintiff was injured on an escalator at Bramalea City Centre. The injuries caused the plaintiff to lose multiple fingers. The defendant TSSA brought a motion for summary judgment on the basis that it did not owe a duty of care to the plaintiff in respect of the frequency of its inspections. TSSA admitted...
The plaintiff was a government lawyer who slipped and fell in the kitchenette of her office as a result of water that had leaked out from under the sink from a hot water dispenser. Following a trial, Justice Roger dismissed the action, holding that the defendants had in place a reasonable cleaning and inspection regime...
In an action arising from personal injuries arising from a motor vehicle accident, the defendant vehicle owner brought a motion for summary judgment for a determination as to whether she was the actual owner and the registered owner of the vehicle driven by her son, the defendant driver, at the time of the accident. The...
The defendant in this action arising from a motor vehicle accident brought a motion to compel the plaintiff to attend for further examination for discovery. Justice Corthorn granted an additional two hours beyond the remaining time to complete the discovery. She reasoned that answers to undertakings given at the plaintiff's initial examination for discovery contradicted...
The minor plaintiff was injured from a trip and fall over a raised concrete edge of a buried metal transformer box owned by the defendant Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro. The transformer box was located on a driveway apron road allowance owned by the defendant City of Kitchener. The two defendant homeowners owned the properties adjacent to the...
The plaintiff suffered vision loss as a complication of a life-saving cardiac surgery. He commenced an action for damages against the doctor who performed the surgery and the hospital where the surgery was performed. The parties resolved certain issues in the action, and the sole remaining issue was the plaintiff's allegation that the defendant doctor...
The plaintiff brought a small claims action against the defendant excavation contractor for damages relating to allegations of negligent design, installation, approval, and inspection of a septic system. The trial judge dismissed the action on the ground that it was statute barred by operation of the Limitations Act, 2002. The trial judge found that a...
The respondent issued a policy of auto insurance to the applicant parents. Upon renewal of the policy, the applicant parents failed to disclose to the respondent that the applicant son was a licensed driver in their household. As of the date of the renewal, he held a G2 license. He previously held a G1 license....
