Paul Heselden

The applicant sought statutory accident benefits, claiming that a motor vehicle accident caused her to subsequently develop meningitis and an empyema.

The applicant's expert theorized that the accident caused a rupture in the dura mater, allowing a middle ear infection to migrate to the brain.

The Tribunal found the expert's theory to be overly speculative and concluded that the applicant failed to prove on a balance of probabilities that the accident was a necessary cause of her meningitis.

The preliminary issue was answered in the negative.

The appellant appealed an arbitrator's decision regarding his residual earning capacity following a motorcycle accident.

The appellant argued that the arbitrator erred in her interpretation of the phrase 'exists in the area in which the person lives' by considering employment outside his immediate municipality, and that she erred in preferring the REC DAC's conclusions over his own experts.

The Director's Delegate dismissed the appeal, finding no error in the arbitrator's flexible interpretation of the search area, which was supported by the appellant's own expert evidence.

The Delegate also found no basis to interfere with the arbitrator's weighing of the evidence and rejected the appellant's late allegations of impropriety against the REC DAC.