Rajwant Singh Bamel

Following the settlement of a tort action arising from a pedestrian struck by a transit bus, the parties disputed the quantum of costs payable to the plaintiff.

The defendant argued the pretrial judge lacked jurisdiction to fix costs and that costs should only be proportional to the $100,000 tort component of the settlement, excluding the $550,000 statutory accident benefits component.

The court declined to recuse itself, finding jurisdiction to fix costs.

The court held that costs should be assessed on the global $650,000 settlement because the defendant directly benefited from the accident benefits settlement by reducing its tort exposure.

The court fixed partial indemnity fees at $300,000, post-settlement fees at $20,000, and disbursements at $125,000, plus HST.

The plaintiffs brought a negligence claim against the school board, principal, and vice-principal for injuries sustained by the student plaintiff during a schoolyard assault by other students.

The plaintiffs alleged that the school failed to properly supervise the students and investigate prior incidents of bullying, which culminated in an assault that caused permanent tinnitus.

The court found that while the school breached the standard of care in failing to investigate a prior incident and losing an accident report, these breaches did not cause the assault, which was a sudden and unexpected event during a hidden game of tackle football.

The claim was dismissed as the plaintiffs failed to establish cause in fact.

During a trial, the plaintiffs sought to admit a police report for the truth of its contents, citing the unavailability of the drafting officer and the report's reliability as an independent investigation.

Alternatively, they argued for its admission as a business record under the Evidence Act.

The defendants opposed, raising concerns about hearsay reliability and the report's content.

The court ruled the police report admissible as a business record, but with significant limitations: it was admissible for the officer's personal observations, communications, and understanding of events, and for party admissions against interest.

However, it was explicitly ruled inadmissible for the truth of non-party hearsay statements, opinions, impressions, or histories, particularly where sources were unidentified.

The plaintiffs' request for an unredacted report was also denied due to lack of proper motion and jurisdiction.