R. Matthew Barteaux

The applicant sought to set aside a full and final settlement of his statutory accident benefits claim, arguing he lacked the mental capacity to enter into the agreement due to a traumatic brain injury sustained in a motor vehicle accident.

The Licence Appeal Tribunal dismissed the application, finding that the applicant failed to rebut the statutory presumption of capacity.

The Tribunal preferred contemporaneous medical and vocational evidence showing the applicant had average cognitive abilities over a capacity assessment conducted three months after the settlement.

The settlement was deemed valid as it was not rescinded within the two-day cooling-off period.

The applicant was injured in a motor vehicle accident and received income replacement benefits (IRBs) until the insurer terminated them.

Prior to the arbitration hearing, the insurer conceded the issue and paid the IRBs retroactively.

The arbitrator held that interest on the overdue IRBs began to accrue from the date they were initially terminated, as the insurer bears the consequence of a decision not to pay benefits later found owing.

The arbitrator also awarded a special award of $36,280.00, finding the insurer acted unreasonably by ignoring the conclusions of its own medical and vocational assessors, who noted that the alternative job options proposed did not provide the same remuneration as the applicant's pre-accident employment.

The insurer was ordered to pay $25,000.00 in expenses.

The appellants appealed a decision refusing an adjournment in an oppression remedy proceeding under the Business Corporations Act.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction, holding that the decision not to adjourn was an order ancillary to the OBCA proceeding and therefore appealable to the Divisional Court under s. 255 of the OBCA.

The appellant, an off-duty police officer, was convicted of impaired driving causing death and bodily harm following a motor vehicle collision.

He appealed his convictions, arguing the trial judge erred by refusing to give a special jury instruction on the frailties of eyewitness confidence, and that his Charter rights were violated during the seizure of blood and breath samples.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the conviction appeal, finding the jury instruction was unnecessary and the evidence was lawfully obtained.

The appellant's sentence appeal seeking a conditional sentence or reduced term from his 21-month imprisonment was also dismissed.