Nominal Damages and Contemptuous Damages

AuthorJamie Cassels
Pages354-359
354
CHA PTER 9
NOMINAL DAMAGES
AND CONTEMPTUOUS
DA M AGES
A. NOMIN AL DA M AGES
1) Def‌inition and Purpose
Nominal damages serve to vindicate the plaintiff’s rights even when
no compensation is necessar y. Nominal damages are a small sum of
money, awarded when the plaintiff is able to establish a cause of action
but has suffered no substanti al loss, successfully mitigated t he loss, or
is unable to prove what that loss is. The purpose of nomin al damages is
to serve as a declarat ion of the plaintiff’s right s and a minor deterrent
to the defendant.1
McGregor describes the purpose of nominal damages as “establish-
ing, determining or protecting a legal r ight.”2 He states that t hey are
available in two situations. The f‌irst i s where the plaintiff proves that she
has suffered some wrong, but no loss (or a trif‌ling loss) has ar isen from
that wrong. The other, and less important, situat ion is when the plainti ff
has shown there was a los s, but the “necessar y evidence as to its amount
is not given.”3 An ancillary reason for awarding nomi nal damages is that
1 See Davidson v Tahtsa Timber Lt d, 2010 BCCA 528 at para s 37 and 44: the plain-
tiff was found t o have fully mitigated his lo sses from wrongful di smissal but
was awarded nomi nal damages of $100 for breach of his lega l right not to be
dismissed without notice.
2 H McGregor, McGregor on Damage s, 17th ed (London: Sweet & Max well, 2003)
at 362 [10-0 08].
3 Ibid at 360 [10-004].

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