Punitive and Aggravated Damages in Personal Injury Awards: Who Pays, How Much, and under What Circumstances

• Author: Alf Kwinter
• Pages: 93-112



PunitiveandAggravatedDamages

inPersonalInjuryAwards

WhoPaysHowMuchandunderWhat

Circumstances

Alf Kwinter*

A. INTRODUCTION

Beforeembarkingonadisc ussionastotheavailabilit yandquantumof

punitivea ndaggravateddamagesin personal injury cases Ib elieveit

mightbeof assistance tosomereaders ofthi spaperto explainthe dis-

tinctionbetweent hesetwoheadsofdamages

TheNovaScotiaCourtofAppealdealtwiththedistinct ionbetween

punitiveandaggravateddamages inRGBvHolleThiswas acase

involvingathirteenyearoldgirlwhohadbeenconnedtoaresidential

school run by the province A sexual relationship developedbe tween

her and a counsellor at the school The coun sellor eventually ceased

workattheschoolassistedthegirltoescapeandconvincedhertostay

athishousewhereheabusedheremotionallyphysicallyandsexually

Sheclai medboth aggravateda ndpun itivedamages The court quotes

WaddamsThe Law of Damages

 MrKwinterfoundedthermSi ngerKwinterwithMorrisSingeri nHeiscer-

tiedasaSpecia listincivi llitigationbyTheLawSoc ietyofUpperCanadaLSUC

andisapastdirec toroftheAdvocatesSociet yHeisamemberoftheOntarioTrial

LawyersAssociat ionOTLAtheAdvocatesSocietytheCanadia nBarAssociat ion

CBAtheAssociationofTrialLawyersofAmer icaandtheAmerica nBarAssocia-

tionHehastaughttr ialpracticeint heBarAdmissionCours eandhasbeeni nvited

tospeakatandcha irnumerousprogram ssponsoredbytheAdvocates Society

OTLACBAandtheLSUC

 DLRthNSCA

AK

Anexceptionexiststothegeneralrulethatdamagesarecompensatory

Thisisthecaseofanawardmadeforthepurposenotofcompensating

theplai ntibut ofpuni shingt hedefendant Suchawards havebee n

calledexemplaryvi ndictivepenal punitiveaggravated andretr ibu-

torybuttheexpressionsi ncommonmodernu setodescribe damages

goingbeyond compensatory are exemplary andpunitive damages

Theexpr essionaggravateddamages though ithas sometimes been

usedinterc hangeablywith punitiveor exemplarydamages hasmore

frequently inre centti mesbee ncontrast edwith exemplary damages

In this contrast ing sense, aggravated d amagesdescribe an award t hat

aimsatcompensationbutta kesfullaccountoft heintangibleinju ries

such asd istress and humiliat iont hatmay have been caused by the

defendantsinsultingbe haviourTheexpressionvi ndictivepenaland

retributoryhavedroppedoutofcommonuse

Thefundamentaldierencebetweenaggravatedandpunitivedam-

agesis dealtwith by theSupreme CourtofCanada in Norberg v. Wyn-

rib This case involveda clai mby a patient against her family doctor

The patient had become addictedto c ertain prescription medication s

Thedoctoroered herthese drugsin exchangefors exualfavoursThe

plaintisclaim hadbeendi smissed bythe trial court and bythe Brit-

ishColumbiaCourtofAppealT heSupremeCourtofCa nadaawarded

general including aggravatedda magesa s wella s punitive damages

TheCourtnotes

Aggravateddamages may be awardedif the baery has occur redi n

humiliating or u ndignied circumstances T hese damages are not

awardedinadditiontogeneral damagesRathergeneralda magesare

assessedtakingintoaccou ntanyaggravatingfeaturesofthecaseand

tothat extent increasing the amount awardedsee N.(J.L.) v. L.(A.M.)

CCLTManQBatpper LockwoodJT hesemust

bedisti nguished frompun itiveorexemplar ydamages Thelaer are

awardedto punish thedefenda ntand tomake an exampleof him or

herinordertodeterothersfromcommiingthesametortseeLinden

Canadian Tort LawthedatppInVorvis v. Insurance Cor-

poration of British ColumbiaSCRatppMcInty reJ

thussetforththec ircumsta nceswherethedefendantsconductwould

meritpunishment

 Ibid. atparacitingSMWaddamsThe Law of DamagesdedTorontoCanada

LawBookemphasisadded

 SCR