Susanne Evanitski

The applicant was catastrophically injured in a motor vehicle accident and sought various statutory accident benefits.

The arbitrator found that the insurer's notices terminating income replacement benefits were not clear and unequivocal, meaning the limitation period had not expired.

The arbitrator determined the applicant was an employee rather than self-employed at the time of the accident.

The applicant was awarded 24-hour attendant care benefits retroactive to the accident date due to severe cognitive and behavioural impairments, despite a delay in submitting the formal application.

The arbitrator also awarded housekeeping benefits, nutritional counselling, and medical benefits for the purchase of medical marijuana, finding that marijuana was not an experimental treatment in the specific circumstances of the applicant's brain injury and chronic pain.

The applicant was seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident and claimed statutory accident benefits.

The parties disputed the calculation of income replacement benefits, loss of earning capacity benefits, and attendant care benefits.

The arbitrator found that the applicant, a seasonal truck driver, was entitled to extrapolate his income under section 9(7) of the Schedule because he was on a layoff from employment during the winter months.

The arbitrator also determined the applicant's pre-accident earning capacity based on a vocational evaluation, awarded additional attendant care benefits, and granted a 25% special award against the insurer for unreasonably reducing the attendant care benefits without a proper basis.