D. Wong

A Hamilton jury awarded the plaintiff over $1 million in damages for serious injuries from a motor vehicle accident.

The jury award exceeded both the plaintiff's and defendants' offers to settle.

This decision addresses the plaintiff's application for costs, prejudgment interest, and post-judgment interest.

The court applied Rule 49.10, entitling the plaintiff to partial indemnity costs up to the date of their offer and substantial indemnity costs thereafter.

The court also exercised its discretion under the Courts of Justice Act to fix prejudgment interest at 3% and post-judgment interest at 7%.

The total award for costs and interest was $1,104,557.50.

The plaintiff, in a wrongful dismissal action, sought to amend his statement of claim to include claims for moral, aggravated, and punitive damages, alleging the defendant employer engaged in a bad faith campaign, including unwarranted disciplinary proceedings.

The defendant opposed certain amendments, arguing they constituted an abuse of process and a collateral attack on the ongoing disciplinary proceedings.

The court granted leave to amend, finding that the disciplinary process might not address the employer's bad faith motive, nor provide the same relief (employment-related damages), and that the amendments were not a collateral attack on the regulatory process itself but rather on the employer's alleged bad faith use of that process.