Arthur Camporese

The plaintiffs sued multiple defendants, including an insurer and its subcontractors, for various torts arising from the handling of a statutory accident benefits claim.

The defendants brought Rule 21 motions to strike the claims for lack of jurisdiction and disclosing no reasonable cause of action.

The court refused to strike the action for lack of jurisdiction because of an outstanding constitutional challenge to the Insurance Act.

However, the court struck all tort claims against the moving defendants, except for the claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress, finding it was plain and obvious they could not succeed.

The court also struck the plaintiff's constitutional challenges to the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule as an abuse of process.

Following a successful motion for summary judgment dismissing the plaintiff’s action, the defendant sought costs on a partial indemnity basis.

The plaintiff provided no submissions despite being invited to do so.

After reviewing the docketed time, hourly rates for counsel and law clerk, and the factors under Rule 57 of the Rules of Civil Procedure, including delays in the prosecution of the action by the plaintiff, the court found the claimed costs reasonable.

The court fixed costs payable by the plaintiff to the defendant for fees and disbursements.