Juanita Le Roux

The applicant was injured in a motor vehicle accident and claimed she sustained a catastrophic impairment due to a mental or behavioural disorder.

The insurer argued the accident was minor and her impairments were pre-existing or caused by unrelated post-accident stressors.

Applying the three-stage process from Pastore, the arbitrator found that the accident materially contributed to the applicant's diagnosed mental and behavioural disorders, including major depressive disorder and pain disorder.

The arbitrator preferred the evidence of the applicant's experts and the insurer's occupational therapist over the insurer's psychiatrist, concluding the applicant suffered a marked impairment in the sphere of deterioration or decompensation in work or worklike settings.

The applicant was deemed catastrophically impaired.