Dr. Merskey

The respondent was injured in a motor vehicle accident and suffered chronic pain, fibromyalgia, depression, and anxiety.

At trial, the jury awarded damages including amounts for past housekeeping inefficiency, past lost housekeeping capacity, and future lost housekeeping capacity.

The appellants appealed, arguing the trial judge erred in his instructions to the jury regarding the categorization and calculation of housekeeping damages.

The Court of Appeal found that while the trial judge erred in encouraging the jury to separate inefficiency damages from the global non-pecuniary award and in his instructions on calculating past lost housekeeping, the global award was not unreasonable.

The appeal was dismissed.

The appellant appealed his convictions for sexual assault and unlawful confinement.

He argued that the trial judge erred in refusing to order disclosure of the complainant's psychiatric records, allowing the Crown to call the treating psychiatrist in reply, and assessing the complainant's credibility.

The appellant also argued the verdicts were inconsistent because he was acquitted of sexual assault with a weapon.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding no error in the trial judge's assessment of the false memory defence or the complainant's evidence.

The Court also rejected the appellant's application to introduce fresh evidence, concluding it would not assist in preventing a miscarriage of justice.

The applicant was injured in a motor vehicle accident and was previously awarded statutory accident benefits and a special award following a preliminary issues hearing.

The arbitrator rescinded the initial order for expenses on consent and held a further hearing to determine the applicant's entitlement to and quantum of expenses.

The arbitrator found the applicant was entirely successful and entitled to her expenses.

The arbitrator set aside the 30-day time limit for requesting an assessment and awarded the applicant's counsel the maximum hourly rate of $150, allowing a 3:1 ratio for preparation to attendance time.

The insurer was ordered to pay $15,150 in legal fees and $9,103.41 in disbursements.

The appellant was injured in a motor vehicle accident and developed severe fibromyalgia and chronic pain.

She appealed an arbitrator's decision denying her claims for various assistive devices, a hot tub, an electric bed, and replacement farm labour costs under the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule.

The Director's Delegate upheld the arbitrator's denial of the hot tub, exercise equipment, and replacement farm labour, agreeing that the labour costs were a business expense rather than a rehabilitation need.

However, the Director's Delegate reversed the arbitrator's decision regarding the electric bed, finding it reasonably required for the appellant's rehabilitation to manage chronic pain.

The order was also varied to correct the calculation of CPP disability benefit deductions.