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 a tradesman and fell while performing work on the roof of the Defendants' home. The Defendants brought a motion for summary judgment. Justice Broad granted the motion on the basis that a tradesman is presumed to know how to perform roofing work and to be aware of the necessary safety equipment required...
In this case, the Plaintiff sued the Defendant after he was pushed in a parking lot and broke some teeth. The Plaintiff brought a motion for summary judgment and delivered an affidavit which included correspondence between his father and the Defendant's father. In the correspondence, the Defendant's father apologized for the injury. The Plaintiff took...
The Ontario Court of Appeal held that the January 1, 2015 amendment to s. 258.3(8.1) of the Insurance Act, which reduced the default rate of prejudgment intrest for non-pecuniary losses for bodily injury or death arising from the use or operation of an automible from five percent to the bank rate at the time the...
The Plaintiff alleged that she slipped and fell on vinyl flooring in Toronto Community Housing that was installed in the hallway in front of her apartment. She had resided at this apartment for nine years. On a summary judgment motion, Justice Sanfilippo dismissed the Plaintiff's claim due to a lack of objective evidence of any...
The Plaintiff was involved in a MVA in Minnesota and sued the state for compensation. He received the maximum allowable payment under Minnesota law of $500,000.00. Given his significant injuries, the Plaintiff brought an action against his own Ontario insurer, Security National, under the OPCF44. The motion judge ordered Security National to pay the Plaintiff...
The tenant of a rental home was repairing the brake line on his automobile stored in the attached garage when the gas tank fell to the floor and sparked a fire. The fire caused damage of over $150,000.00. The landlord's insurer, North Waterloo Mutual Farmers Insurance, paid for the cost of the repair and sought...
The plaintiff in this Brampton action brought a motion to exclude individuals who drive and pay automobile insurance premiums as potential jurors in motor vehicle cases. The plaintiff argued that the financial obligation to pay automobile insurance premiums amounted to a personal interest adverse to the interests of plaintiffs in cases arising from motor vehicle...
The Defendant gas station sought to add a third party snow plow operator to the action. The Plaintiff had asked the Defendant at discoveries in 2015 to advise within 60 days if it intended to issue a third party claim. The Plaintiff contacted the Defendant a further eight times and received no response. The Plaintiff...
The Plaintiffs were family members of an individual who was killed in the crash of an Ornge helicopter. The action was initiated under s. 61 of the Family Law Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.F.3, and included claims for mental distress resulting from the negligently caused death of the crash victim. Ornge brought a motion to strike...
In this case, the Ontario Court of Appeal confirmed that the limitation period in the Libel & Slander Act, R.R.O. 1990, c.L. 12 applies to the online version of a newspaper. The Court of Appeal rejected the Plaintiff's argument that the limitation period commenced anew each day that the article was online. Rather, the limitation...
The Plaintiff brought an action in relation to a slip and fall incident at a Longo's grocery store. The Defendants moved for summary judgment on the basis that there was no genuine issues requiring a trial. Justice Diamond ruled in favour of the Defendants and held that the video of the incident showed that the...
The jury awarded the Plaintiff general damages of $2,700.00 and damages for past income loss of $3,124.00. The Defendant brought a threshold motion following the jury's award. Justice Archibald concluded that the Plaintiff's injuries were neither serious nor permanent and that the Plaintiff was exaggerating the level of impairment that he had suffered. Justice Archibald...
The insured under an Aviva policy purchased that coverage a few hours after a MVA and did not discose to Aviva that his vehicle had been involved in the MVA. Aviva argued that it could not be required to defend and respond to the claim because its policy was not in place at the time...
The Ontario Court of Appeal ordered a new trial in this MVA case where the defence expert had crossed the line from objective witness to advocate. The Court of Appeal upheld the trial judge's decision to deny cross-examination on the defence expert's previous court and arbitration attendances on the basis that it would divert the...
In this case, Mr. Hoang dropped his two children, niece, and nephew (ages 6 to 13) off at an intersection in Toronto and planned to go find a place to park his car. The chilrden started across Yonge Street at a pedestrian crosswalk on the north side of Queens Quay. The three older children were...
The Defendant sought an order that the Plaintiff's MVA injuries did not pass the statutory threshold. The jury had awarded the Plaintiff $60,000.00 in general damages. Justice Charney held that the Plaintiff's injuries did not meet the statutory threshold as the evidence did not support that her ongoing pain substantially interfered with her ability to...
In this case, the trial judge found that the Plaintiff sustained psychological injuries, including personality changes and cognitive difficulties, based on the testimony of the Plaintiff's friends and family. The British Columbia Court of Appeal allowed the appeal on the basis that the Plaintiff had not demonstrated by expert evidence a medically recognized psychiatric or...
The Plaintiff sought damages under the Family Law Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.F.3, following the death of his wife in an MVA. The Plaintiff was blind and his deceased wife had been his primary caregiver. The Plaintiff sought damages that would take into account the pecuniary loss he now suffered as a result of his wife's...
The Plaintiff sought damages for injuries resulting from an MVA involving an unidentified driver. The Defendant insurer alleged in its Statement of Defence that the Plaintiff was responsible for the action due to his cell phone use and sought production of the Plaintiff's cell phone records for the 30 minutes prior to the MVA. The...
A hospital employee improperly accessed a neighbour's medical records. The employee was not in the neighbour's circle of care. The neighbour sued the employee for mental anguish arising from intrusion upon seclusion. The hospital's liability policy provided coverage for all employees of the hospital while acting under the direction of the hospital. The court held...
The female plaintiff was sexually abused by a taxi driver. She became intoxicated at a party and her friend called the defendant taxi company, which dispatched the driver to pick her up. The defendant taxi company successfully moved for summary judgment on the basis that it should not be held vicariously liable for the intentionally...
