Yalda Aziz

The respondent suffered injuries after slipping and falling on ice in a parking lot while reaching for his vehicle's door handle.

He received statutory accident benefits (SABs) after a LAT adjudicator found the incident was an 'accident' under the SABs Schedule.

He subsequently sued the parking lot owner and winter maintenance provider for occupiers' liability.

The appellants moved to determine whether any damages awarded must be reduced by the SABs received under s. 267.8 of the Insurance Act, and whether OHIP's subrogated claim was barred under s. 30(5) of the Health Insurance Act.

The motion judge found the tort claim did not arise directly or indirectly from the use or operation of an automobile, meaning the statutory deductions and subrogation bars did not apply.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding no error in the motion judge's substantive approach or her conclusion that the context and purpose of the LAT proceeding differed from the tort action, precluding abuse of process or issue estoppel.

The defendant brought a motion to compel the plaintiff to attend a neuropsychological assessment and for leave to serve the resulting expert report after the deadline set by Rule 53.03.

The defendant's new counsel argued the delay was due to assuming carriage of the file late in the litigation.

The court dismissed the motion, finding no reasonable explanation for the two-year delay by the defendant's previous counsel in arranging the assessment.

The court also noted that allowing a late report on the eve of trial would cause significant prejudice to the plaintiff and likely result in a lengthy trial adjournment.

The appellant was injured in a motor vehicle accident and suffered an intracranial brain contusion.

The insurer placed her in the Minor Injury Guideline (MIG) under the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule (SABS), limiting her benefits to $3,500.

The Licence Appeal Tribunal upheld this decision, finding that the definition of 'minor injury' includes all contusions, including brain contusions.

On appeal, the Divisional Court found the Tribunal erred in law by focusing on the degree of impairment rather than the nature of the injury.

The court held that an intracranial brain contusion is not a 'minor injury' under the SABS, allowed the appeal, and ordered the appellant removed from the MIG.

The Ontario Trial Lawyers Association (OTLA) brought a motion for leave to intervene as a friend of the Court in an appeal concerning the interpretation of 'minor injury' under the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule.

The court dismissed the motion, finding that OTLA's proposed submissions overlapped substantially with the appellant's factum and that the perspective and interests were adequately represented without OTLA's involvement.

The court concluded that OTLA was unlikely to make a useful contribution to the resolution of the appeal.