Doucet v. Crittenden, 2001 NBQB 271

• Judge: McLellan, J.
• Court: Court of Queen's Bench of New Brunswick (Canada)
• Case Date: December 20, 2001
• Jurisdiction: New Brunswick
• Citations: 2001 NBQB 271;(2001), 246 N.B.R.(2d) 36 (TD)

Doucet v. Crittenden (2001), 246 N.B.R.(2d) 36 (TD);

    246 R.N.-B.(2e) 36; 638 A.P.R. 36

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[French language version follows English language version]

[La version française vient à la suite de la version anglaise]

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Temp. Cite: [2002] N.B.R.(2d) TBEd. JA.004

Richard Doucet (plaintiff) v. Ralston Crittenden and Cathy Crittenden (defendants)

(S/C/809/00; 2001 NBQB 271)

Indexed As: Doucet v. Crittenden

New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench

Trial Division

Judicial District of Saint John

McLellan, J.

December 20, 2001.

Summary:

The plaintiff brought a negligence action for damages against the defendant for in­juries suffered in a motor vehicle accident, par­ticularly a badly broken leg. The defen­dant admitted liability. Only the quantum of damages was in issue.

The New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench, Trial Division, assessed damages accordingly.

Damage Awards - Topic 142

Injury and death - Leg injuries - Fracture - The physically active 25 year old male plaintiff suffered a badly broken leg (mul­tiple fractures) - Long recovery period - Right leg now shorter than left - Left with a limp and weakness in the right leg and ankle - The plaintiff's employment history involved physical labour - His employ­ment prospects were diminished by his inability to handle some types of physi­cally de­manding work - His recreational activ­ities were also curtailed - The plain­tiff hoped to retrain for a computer-oriented job - The New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench, Trial Division, awarded the plaintiff $40,000 general damages for nonpecuniary loss, $60,000 for loss of earning capacity and $10,000 for retraining costs.

Damage Awards - Topic 489.2

Injury and death - General damage awards - Retraining costs - [See Damage Awards - Topic 142 ].

Damage Awards - Topic 492

Injury and death - General damage awards - Loss of earning capacity - [See Damage Awards - Topic 142 ].

Damages - Topic 1731

Deductions for payments or assistance by third parties - Contractually - From em­ployer - Wages - Agreement to pay wages out of compensation - Section 265.4(1) of the Insur­ance Act provided that the dam­ages to which a plaintiff in a motor vehicle negli­gence action was entitled was to be reduced by monies received under an "income con­tinuation benefit plan" or a "sick leave plan" - A plaintiff received monies in lieu of wages from his employ­er's Mutual Benefit Asso­ciation - The evidence clearly established that the mon­ies were "loaned" to the plaintiff until his claim was settled - The New Bruns­wick Court of Queen's Bench, Trial Divi­sion, held that s. 265.4(1) did not apply to loans - Accordingly, the monies received (and to be repaid) were not to be deducted from the plaintiff's claim for lost wages - See paragraphs 30 to 33.

Damages - Topic 1733

Deductions for payments or assistance by third parties - Contractually - From em­ployer - Sick leave benefits - [See Dam­ages - Topic 1731 ].

Cases Noticed:

Scott v. Renton et al. (1999), 215 N.B.R.(2d) 263; 551 A.P.R. 263 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 34].

Copper v. McLeod (1996), 178 N.B.R.(2d) 276; 454 A.P.R. 276 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 34].

McGraw v. Melanson et al., [2001] N.B.R.(2d) (Supp.) No. 72 (Q.B.), refd to. [para. 35].

Debly v. Bowland et al. (2000), 232 N.B.R.(2d) 378; 598 A.P.R. 378 (Q.B.), refd to. [para. 35].

Thibodeau v. Lafreniere et al. (2000), 232 N.B.R.(2d) 164; 598 A.P.R. 164 (Q.B.), refd to. [para. 35].

Counsel:

David N. Rogers, for the plaintiff;

Duane M. McAfee, for the defendants.

This action was heard on December 6 and 13, 2001, before McLellan, J., of the New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench, Trial Division, Judicial District of Saint John, who delivered the following judgment on De­cember 20, 2001.