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 plaintiff was 21 years of age when she was involved in a motor vehicle accident. She sustained soft tissue injuries, and as of the time of trial had persistent pain in her right shoulder and neck with tingling in her hands and arms. The defendants denied that the plaintiff's ongoing symptoms were caused by...
Pursuant to Rule 16.02 of the Rules of Civil Procedure, service of an originating process on a corporation may be effected by leaving a copy with an officer, director or agent of the corporation or with a person at any place of business of the corporation who appears to be in contral or management of...
The plaintiff alleged to have sustained damages as a result of a slip and fall incident on a TTC bus. As of the time of trial, the plaintiff had failed to comply with an interlocutory costs order and failed to produce any evidence to establish her entitlement to damages. At trial, she intended to rely...
In this case, the Plaintiff listed numerous documents in Schedule "A" of her Affidavit of Documents, but refused to produce a number of them for inspection as they were not in her possession (i.e. doctor's records). The Plaintiff advised that she would produce the documents if the Defendant agreed to pay for them. The court...
In this personal injury action, the defendant obtained an investigator's report which contained screen captures from the Instagram account of the plaintiff's friend. The photos depicted the plaintiff engaging in activities which she claimed to assessors she was not capable of engaging in as a result of her injuries. The defendant brought a motion for...
In this case, the Respondent filed a supplementary affidavit five weeks after the conclusion of cross-examinations for an application. Under Rule 39.02(1) of the Rules of Civil Procedure, a party may only cross-examine the opposing side's affiants once it has served every affidavit on which it intends to rely. The court reviewed the applicable jurisprudence...
The Plaintiff was seriously injured in a snowboarding accident at a resort owned by the Defendant Skyline. He sued Skyline, the individual who struck him on the ski hill, and the school board that had arranged the trip. After suffering his injury, the Plaintiff was kept at Bellwoods Centre for Community Living. In a separate...
The Defendant in the related action, Maroof Mahamood, had been asked by his employer, Fine Furnishings (insured by Wawanesa) to perform some furniture deliveries. Mr. Mahamood rented a truck from New Horizons Car Truck Rentals (insured by Aviva). Mr. Mahamood did not have insurance of his own. Justice Nakatsuru concluded that Aviva was the first...
The Plaintiff was involved in a rear-end MVA on a rural road in Lanark County. The road was icy at the material time. The Defendant driver commenced a third party claim against the County. The Plaintiff did not assert a claim against the County. The Plaintiff moved for partial summary judgment against the Defendant driver....
The Plaintiff was a 67 year old male with chronic right knee pain. At trial, he testified that he currently experienced chronic pain in his right knee, could not walk or run long distances, and had difficulty climbing stairs. He had a constant limp and was no longer able to perform his pre-accident home renovation...
The Plaintiff was a senior engineer at Canada Post and 51 years old at the time of the MVA (she was rear-ended at about 30 km/h). The Plaintiff sustained soft tissue injuries leading to chronic pain, adjustment disorder, and somatic symptom disorder. The Plaintiff stopped working six years after the MVA due to her medical...
This Alberta Court of Appeal decision deals with Pierringer agreements in the context of fault allocation in the negligent construction and operation of a pipeline. With respect to Pierringer agreements, all three Justices upheld the existing rule "that a settling Plaintiff must account to the non-settling Defendant for any recovery in excess of its actual...
The plaintiff sustained injuries in a motor vehicle accident that took place in a four-way intersection in the City of Hamilton. The intersection had one through road and one road with a stop sign. The plaintiff commenced an action against the driver of the other vehicle involved in the collision and the City of Hamilton...
A municipality's duty of care does not extend to remedying conditions that pose a risk of harm only with negligent driving. In this case, the defendant driver stopped at a stop sign several meters behind a faded stop line. He accelerated from the stop sign and T-boned a minivan in which the plaintiff was a...
The Appellant purchased a home designed and constructed by the Respondent in 1997. He discovered mould in the home in 2002 which was caused by water leakage as a result of faulty construction. The mould was promptly remedied and the house was sold with no loss of value. The Appellant's action was limited to damages...
The Plaintiff brought a summary judgment motion seeking payment for repair costs of a rented vehicle that was damaged in an accident while it was being rented by the Defendant. The Defendant attempted to rely on the damage waiver in the rental car contract on the basis that the rental vehicle was allegedly stolen during...
Justice Perell held that HBC's failure to make payment each week was not a renewing breach of contract perpetually being repeated each week. Rather, once payment was not made, HBC was immediately liable to be sued for default in payment. However, Justice Perell went on to find that there was also a breach of the...
At issue on this appeal was the application of the "appropriate means" element of the discoverability test under the Limitations Act. Intact Insurance moved for summary judgment to dismiss the action of the Respondent for indemnification under a commercial insurance policy for losses arising from a flood to its business premises. Intact argued that the...
In this case, a member of the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association ("OTLA") sent a message to other OTLA members that made allegedly defamatory comments about a doctor retained by an insurer in a claim brought pursuant to the Statutory Accidents Benefits Schedule. The motion judge dismissed the doctor's claim against the lawyer on the basis...
In this case, Master Sugunasiri determined that the Rules of Civil Procedure require the parties to provide some detail as to the nature of the documents that they will produce prior to discovery. Master Sugunasiri noted that while "the extent of the detail and the nature of the categories of the proposed disclosure will vary...
The Plaintiff brought a motion to add TTC Insurance Company Limited ("TTCICL") as a Defendant in order to assert a claim for unidentified motorist coverage. At issue was whether the Plaintiff's claim against TTCICL was statute barred pursuant to the Limitations Act. Justice Chiappetta concluded that the limitation period would begin the day after the...
