Renata Karolina Antoniuk

The court considered a motion for approval of a settlement in a civil action arising from the surreptitious recording and distribution of a nude video of a minor student at school.

The court found the materials filed in support of the settlement insufficient, particularly regarding the impact on the minor plaintiff, the litigation risks, and the rationale for the settlement quantum.

The court directed the parties to provide further and better materials addressing these deficiencies before the settlement could be approved.

During a trial on liability for injuries sustained by the plaintiff while pitching in a school softball tournament, the plaintiff brought a motion to exclude the expert evidence of the defendant school board's proposed expert on student physical health and safety.

The proposed expert opined that the standard of care was strictly defined by the OPHEA Safety Guidelines, which did not mandate face masks for pitchers.

The court excluded the expert evidence, finding it was not necessary as the jury could understand the facts and assess the foreseeable risks without her assistance.

Furthermore, the court found the evidence would likely distort the fact-finding process because the expert acted as an advocate, rigidly adhered to an incorrect legal standard, and offered opinions beyond her expertise.

The defendant, Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board, brought a motion to bifurcate the issues of liability and damages in a personal injury action, seeking to have liability tried first.

The plaintiffs opposed the motion.

The court dismissed the motion, finding that the defendant failed to demonstrate that bifurcation would certainly dispose of issues, shorten proceedings, or result in substantial cost savings.

The court also found that the issues were not clearly severable due to overlap in evidence and witnesses, and that bifurcating a jury trial would unduly prejudice the plaintiffs, given the right to a single jury and the practical difficulties of separate jury trials.

The moving parties, two of the plaintiffs in a civil assault action, sought an order to relieve them from the deemed undertaking rule to use a security video, obtained through discovery, for a criminal prosecution against the individual defendants (security guards) and a police officer.

The court found that the deemed undertaking rule applied to the video as it was disclosed under compulsion, despite being provided early for tactical reasons.

The court further determined that the public interest in pursuing a criminal investigation did not outweigh the prejudice to the disclosing party (20 Vic Management Inc.) and its co-defendants, particularly the tactical leverage a concurrent criminal investigation could create in the civil action.

The motion was dismissed.