Murphy v. Miller and Canada, (1986) 1 F.T.R. 105 (TD)

• Judge: Joyal, J.
• Court: Federal Court (Canada)
• Case Date: October 09, 1985
• Jurisdiction: Canada (Federal)
• Citations: (1986), 1 F.T.R. 105 (TD)

Murphy v. Miller (1986), 1 F.T.R. 105 (TD)

MLB headnote and full text

Murphy v. Miller and Canada

(No. T-2764-83)

Indexed As: Murphy v. Miller and Canada

Federal Court of Canada

Trial Division

Joyal, J.

January 3, 1986.

Summary:

Murphy brought a negligence action for damages against the Crown and one of its employees for injuries suffered in a motor vehicle accident. The Crown admitted liability.

The Federal Court of Canada, Trial Division, awarded Murphy $8,500.00 general damages for non-pecuniary loss, plus $3,937.00 special damages.

Damage Awards - Topic 178

Personal injury and death - Neck injuries - Whiplash - A mother of three young children suffered whiplash in a rear-end motor vehicle collision - Previous neck and back pain from job-related accident - The present accident was not proved to have aggravated that injury - Continuing pain and discomfort - No degenerative effects - The Federal Court of Canada, Trial Division, awarded $8,500.00 general damages for non-pecuniary loss.

Damages - Topic 1012

Mitigation - In tort - Personal injuries - Employment - A waitress was advised by doctors to take time off work after suffering a whiplash injury - She continued to work, claiming that she needed the money to supplement her husband's income - The Federal Court of Canada, Trial Division, held that the waitress did not fail to mitigate her loss by continuing to work.

Damages - Topic 1545

General damages - Personal injury - Aggravation of preexisting condition - A woman who suffered a whiplash injury had previously suffered back and neck pain from a job-related accident - The Federal Court of Canada, Trial Division, in assessing general damages, held that it was not proved that the whiplash aggravated the previous job-related injury.

Counsel:

Appearances: S.P. Pillay and M.J. McGinty, for the plaintiff;

A.R. Pringle and S. MacPherson, for the defendants.

Solicitors of Record:

McFetridge, McGinty and Pillay, for the plaintiff;

Frank Iacobucci, Deputy Attorney General of Canada, for the defendants.

This action was heard at Halifax, N.S., on October 9, 1985, before Joyal, J., of the Federal Court of Canada, Trial Division, who delivered the following judgment on January 3, 1986.