The Undervaluation of Non-pecuniary and Income-Based Damage Awards in Sexual Abuse Cases: Do Gender and Aboriginal Factors Play a Role?

• Author: Susan M. Vella
• Pages: 477-514



TheUndervaluationof

Nonpecuniaryand

IncomeBasedDamage

AwardsinSexualAbuseCases

DoGenderandAboriginalFactorsPlayaRole

Susan M. Vella*

A. INTRODUCTION

Areviewofthereportedsexualassaultdecisionsondamagestodatere-

vealstwodisturbingandseem inglyentrenchedtrendsFirstnonpecu-

niarydamageawardsarelowacrosstheboardwiththevastmajorityof

successfulplaintisreceivi nglessthanhalfthepersona linjurycapthat

wasestablishedinbytheSupremeCourtofCanadainitsdamages

trilogyofcasesSecondlossofear ningcapacityawardsareskewedby

genderandseeminglymorepronouncedbyraceinthesituationofAb-

originalplaintisT heoverallconclusionisthattheharmswhichres ult

fromsexual tortsare undervaluedas reectedin thecaselawnotwith-

standingthe apparentrecognitionbythejudiciary ofthereprehe nsible

character of the misconduct and the per vasivelifelong natur e oft he

harmssueredbythosewhohavebeensexual lyabused

 BarristerandSolicitorTheauthorisindebtedtoElizabethKPGraceforsharing

herearliersurveysofse xualabusedamageaward sandforherinsightf ulcomments

regardingearlierdrasofthispaperTheauthoralsowishe stothankMichelle

Kemperforherassistanceingatheringthestat isticalinformationusedi nthispaper

andprovidingres earchassista nce

 Andrews v. Grand & Toy Alberta Ltd.SCRatAndrewsThornton v.

SchoolDistrictNoPrinceGeo rgeSCRatThorntonArnold v.

Teno SCRatArnoldThesethreeca sesarecollectivelyk nown

asthedamagestr ilogy

SMV

This paperhas twodomi nantthes esFirst theas sessmentof non

pecuniar ydamage awardsh asbeen hampered by the personal injury

capThecapwasimposedaer areviewbytheSupremeCourt ofCan-

adaof policy considerations relevant toneg ligencebased catastrophic

personalinjurycasesThesepolicyconsiderationsareneitherapplicable

nor appropriateto cases feat uring intentional misconduct that cause s

thepredominantlypsychologicallybasedharmsassociatedwithsexual

abuseand inwhich signicantp ecuniary lossis dicultto proveThe

personalinjur ycapisprem isedonthe assumptionthatvictimsofneg-

ligencebasedpersona linjury will befully compensatedbyawards for

pecuniar ylossfuture careandorloss ofearn ingcapacitysot hatthe

generalfunct ionofnonpecu niaryda mageawardsisto topupthe real

compensatoryawardiepecunia rylossforthe purpose ofproviding

additionalsolacetothevictim

Anotherrea sonfor theu ndervaluationof nonpecuniary damages

isthatthehar msassociatedwithsex ualabusetortsandduciaryduty

alikeare largely invisibleharms of apsychological nature historic-

allyassociatedwithsocomplaintssuchasdepressiona nxietyand

stress raised by predominantly female plai ntis rather tha n hard

corephysicalinjuriessuchasparalysisbrokenlimbsandbraincogni-

tiveinjurySexualassaulthashi storicallybeenidentiedasawomens

issueand the historical treatmentby the lawof womens issueshas

notbeen advantageousLearned scholarsin womenand thelaw have

coinedthephras efeminizat ionto denotet hedisparate treatment of

womenunderthelaw

This earlyfemin izationof the lawpert aining toc ivilremedies for

sexualmisconductcombinedwitht hearticialconst raintsimposedby

thepersonalinjurycaphaveoperatedtoconstrainthecourtsvaluation

ofthepainandsueringcomponentofnonpecun iaryawardsissued

in favour of victims of sexual abuse As well pec uniary loss awards

haveeither been minimal or absentaltogether withfew exceptions to

dateHencethe presumptionunderlying theest ablishmentof theper-

sonalinjur ycapthatanonpecun iaryawardi sessentially atopup

ofasubstant ialpecun iarylossawardthatalreadyf ullycompensates

thevictimofacc identalinjuryintermsofc alculableeconomiclossis

notborneoutintheeldofc ivilsexualass aultasdemonstratedbythe

statisticalanalysisrevealedi nthispaper

 SeeforexampleMarthaC hamallasT heArchitectu reofBiasDeepStruct uresin

TortLawUPaLRev

TheUndervaluationofDamageAwardsinSexualAbuseCases 

While an analysis ofa llof the potential reasons as to whyloss of

earningcapacityclaimsar emoreoenthan notdeniedorsign icantly

reducedis beyond the scopeof thi spaper oneclea rlysignica ntbar-

riert hatfaces child hoodvict ims ofsexua labuse and which does not

typicallycon frontvictims childandadultofcatastrophic personalin-

jury towhich the personal injur ycap appliesis the fact that lawsuits

basedon childhood sexualabuse aret ypicallynot broughtuntil many

years aer the victims were abused T he reasons for this delay in re-

porting andpursu ingcivil sexual abuse claims arewell documented

Howeverthe practical reality t hat results from this delay created by

the very nature of the in sidious wrongi st hat causation in damages

becomesfarmorecomplicatedanddic ulttoproveduetothepassage

oftimeandtheoccurrenceofinterveningeventsThepassageoftimeis

notgenerallysigni cantinthe catastrophicpersona linjury casewhere

an accidentvisibly occurs the physical injury is oen immediate and

apparent andmore obviously caused by the negligent conduct and

the victim typically does notwait decades beforebring ingher action

Theresultleavessexualabuseclaima ntswithoutappropriateredressfor

bothnonpec uniary lossandloss ofearn ingcapacityThe justication

forrestraini ngthesocialcostoflarge awardsreliedonbyt heSupreme

CourtofCa nadatosupport acapon nonpecuniary damagesdoesnot

standupwhenscrutinizedinthelightoftheintentionaltortsincluding

sexual abuseor in light ofthe low pecuniaryloss awardsi fgranted

receivedbyvictimsofsexualabuse

Finallyitisnoteworthythattheestablishmentofthepersonalinjury

capin didnot takeinto accountthe possibility ofthe existenceof

aggravatingfactors While thecourt shaver ejecteda separateheadi ng

ofnonpecu niary damagesrefer redto by somecour tsas aggravated

damages aggravating factors are appropriately considered to aug-

mentanaward forpainandsu eringbeyondwhat theconventional

caselaw wouldot herwise warrant to reect the ma nner in which the

wrongfulconductwasperpetrated orrespondedtoI nthemajorityof

sexualabuse casesaggravating factorsarepresentplacingthese cases

in a category that justies awarding nonpecun iary damages that are

 SeeElizabet hKPGraceJudgingCauseandEectChallenge sandTrendsin

AssessingDam agesinSexualAbus eCasesinTheLawSoc ietyofCanada Specia l

LecturesTheModer nLawofDamagesTorontoIrwinLawat

GraceandtheLawCommissionofCan adaRestoring Dignity; Responding to Child

Abuse in Canadian Institutions OawaLawCommi ssionofCanada

 Seeforexample P.D. v. AllenOJNoSCJP.D .