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Humboldt in our Hearts: An upsetting guide to fatality/wrongful death claims in Ontario

Tragedy struck the nation on April 6, 2018 as 15 young men of the Humboldt Broncos Saskatchewan Junior Hockey Club were killed in a fatal bus/tractor trailer crash in rural Saskatchewan.

The lives of: Parker Tobin, Darcy Haugan, Stephen Wack, Logan Boulet, Brody Hinz, Evan Thomas, Mark Cross, Logan Schatz, Adam Herold, Tyler Bieber, Glen Doerksen, Jaxon Joseph, Jacob Leicht, Logan Hunter and Conner Lukan all cut too short.

14 others who were on the bus were injured. The extent of those injuries and their long term impact is unknown. We wish all those injured in this terrible accident, their loved ones, friends and families for a speedy physical, emotional and spiritual recovery.

In the words of Humboldt Broncos father Myles ShumlanskiI don’t know how to explain it even as a nightmare, because it’s past a nightmare.

The whole world (not just Canada) has rallied around this tragedy to show their support through financial donations via GoFundMe Campaign which as of the date of preparing this Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog Post has raised over $8.2M; well wishes online#HumboldtStrong; shows of remembrance/support leaving out hockey sticks outside of the front door to honour those lost and injured. All Canadians are Humboldt. 

In chatting with family and friends, they have asked me what the possible value of this sort of personal injury claim could be.

I give my thoughts based on past awards in fatality claims. I cannot comment on personal injury law in Saskatchewan. I can however comment on personal injury law in Ontario, and I wish to give those comments here.Those past awards will shock you, and will likely anger you. I did not make up the law and how it works. The laws are made by our government and by common law precedents passed down from generation to generation from Court to Court and from Judge to Judge.

The cases cited below are cases where the parent was lost who had adult children, and not the other way around.

The unfortunate reality of these fatality cases as illustrated below is that damages for losing a loved one (loss of guidance, care and companionship) are small in Ontario.Goldfinger-logo-icon-300x300

Where we see damage awards in fatality claims raise in Ontario is where the deceased was a full time income earner or full time care provider. In those situations, the income of the full time income earner to an extrapolated over the years, and the family can claim an income loss based on the death of an income earner. Example: the deceased was the primary income earner and earned $75K/year. Now the family has lost their primary income earner as a result of a terrible accident/collision. The family will be able to make an income loss claim.

Where the deceased was a primary care giver; the value of those services can be extrapolated over the years. How much would it cost to replace the care or cleaning services which the deceased had provided? That monthly or annual cost adds up, and adds value to the claim.

The notes below don’t take in to consideration any other heads of damages including but not limited to past/future care costs, funeral costs, punitive or aggravated damages. This would be up to a Saskatchewan Court to decide, or between an insurer and their personal injury lawyers.

CASE LAW RE: QUANTUM FOR LOSS OF A PARENT OF ADULT CHILDREN

Citation Notes Damages Assessed
Madonia v Stevens (2008), [2009] WDFL 1556, 2008 CarswellOnt 8256 (Ont Sup Ct J). The deceased mother was 78 years old and died as a result of medical negligence. She had two adult children.

The adult son was very close to his mother. They visited when possible and he spoke with her on the phone every other day. He relied on her for guidance and friendship.

 

The daughter described her mother as “her best friend.” They visited often and her mother helped her a great deal when she went through cancer treatments.

 

$20,000 each
Singleton v Leisureworld Inc. (2008), 166 ACWS (3d) 886, 2008 CarswellOnt 2128 (Ont Sup Ct J). The mother was 77 years old at the time of her death in 2007. She had been suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease since 1999. She had been a resident in the nursing home operated by the Defendant for approximately six years.
The family was described as “close” and the children as maintaining a “close and caring relationship” with their mother. The two daughters cared for their mother after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, often in their own homes. The two sons visited their mother in the nursing home a number of times each year.Justice Hennessy relied on Hechevarria v Reale and Fish v Shainhouse (below) in calculating the value of the FLA claims.
$30,000 each
Wilcox v “Miss Megan” (The), 2007 FC 1004, 2007 CarswellNat 3324 (FC), aff’d 2008 FC 56, 2008 CarswellNat 1193 (FC). The deceased father drowned while at work on a fishing boat.  He had three adult children.  One adult child had a disability and her claim was considered separately. The other two adult children were independent but were close to their father. They spoke often and visited regularly.

 

$25,000 each
Adair Estate v Hamilton Health Sciences Corp., [2005] WDFL 3358, 2005 CarswellOnt 2180 (Ont Sup Ct J). The mother died after surgery and was successful in her claim for medical negligence. She had five adult children, two of which were FLA plaintiffs. The family was described as “close-knit,” and the mother was described as the family’s “social and moral pilot” (at para 189).

 

$20,000 each
Fish v Shainhouse, 2005 CarswellOnt 5265 (Available on WL Canada) (Ont Sup Ct J). The father died suddenly of cardiac problems. He had seen doctors several times leading up to his death and was misdiagnosed. The claim again the doctors failed, but the FLA claims were provisionally assessed. The deceased had three adult children, one minor child and four grandchildren, two of whom were eligible for an award under the FLA. The father was very close to his children (except for one, from whom he had been estranged for a couple of years), and was a stay-at-home dad while his wife worked outside of the home. 1) $40,000 to a son who lived far away and saw his father less regularly;

 

2) $50,000 to his daughter who lived at home while going to university;

 

3) $25,000 to an estranged son who used to have a very good relationship with his father; and

 

4) $80,000 to the minor son.

 

Hechevarria v Reale (2000), 51 OR (3d) 364, 2000 CarswellOnt 4099 (Ont Sup Ct J). The mother was killed in an MVA. She had three adult children (ages 32, 27 and 22) who still lived at home and relied upon their mother.  The children were either unemployed or did not work much, they depended on their mother, and they suffered emotional consequences of her death. The family was very close.

 

$30,000 each
Robb Estate v Canadian Red Cross Society (2000), 1 CCLT (3d) 70, 2000 CarswellOnt 2178 (Ont Sup Ct J), rev’d on other grounds, 152 OAC 60, 2001 CarswellOnt 4159 (Ont CA), leave to appeal to SCC refused, 172 OAC 198, 2002 CarswellOnt 2839. The father developed HIV from a blood transfusion and died.

 

Daughter: The daughter was 16 when she learned of her father’s infection and 18 when he died. They were very close. When his infection became severe and he went into the hospital, she visited him nearly every day. She quit baseball so she could spend more time with him. Once he lost his sight, hearing and ability to speak, she would climb into bed with him so he could reach out and know she was there with him.

 

Son: The son moved out of the family home when he was 16. He was 19 when he learned of his father’s infection and 21 when he died. He described his relationship with his father as “fairly close.” He moved back into the family home six months before his father died. He was not as emotionally demonstrative as his sister.

$35,000 each, broken down as follows:

 

$30,000 each for loss of guidance, care and companionship.

 

Each was also awarded an additional $5,000 based on McDermott v Ramadanovic Estate ((1988), 27 BCLR (2d) 45 (BC SC)), where a 13 year old was awarded $20,000 for “emotional scars” as a result of witnessing both of her parents’ death in a motor vehicle accident. While this degree of shock was not present in this case, Macdonald J held that the father’s death had a substantial emotional impact on the children.

 

Stell v Obedkoff, [2000] OTC 742, 2000 CarswellOnt 4085 (Ont Sup Ct J). The mother died of breast cancer after the doctor failed to respond properly to a radiology report. She had a successful claim for medical negligence.  The mother was close to her adult children, aged 28 and 25. The family was described and close-knit, caring and devoted. $20,000 each

 

Campbell J refers to this award as “the high end of the conventional range of family law awards” (at para 309).

 

Singh Estate v Bajrangie-Singh (1999), 129 ETR (2d) 302, 1999 CarswellOnt 2230 (Ont Sup Ct J). The deceased mother was shot by her partner. She had three adult children.

Her daughter had lived with her when she first immigrated to Canada. After she moved out, they visited and spoke on the phone often. Her son and her other daughter lived in Trinidad and they spoke every few weeks.  Her daughter in Trinidad came to Ontario to visit the deceased on several occasions and once stayed for a couple of years.

 

$10,000 for the oldest daughter who lived in Ontario;

 

$3,000 for each of her other two children who lived in Trinidad.

Lachance v Gosselin Estate, 1994 CarswellOnt 3759 (Available on WL Canada) (Ont Ct J (Gen Div)). The mother died in a car accident. She had six living adult children, who lived throughout Ontario and Quebec. Her two oldest sons lived close to her, helped her with family responsibilities, and had a close relationship with her. Three of the others lived further away. One of her children was disabled, and her claim was assessed separately.

 

$10,000 for each of the two oldest sons, $2,500 for the three others.
Pittman Estate v Bain, [1994] 112 DLR (4th) 257, 1994 CarswellOnt 928 (Ont Ct J (Gen Div)). The father contracted HIV from a blood transfusion and died. The mother became terminally ill with HIV. The family was very close.

 

Lang J provides an overview of the factors to consider the amount to award in an FLA claim (at para 971), which include:

 

1) the age, mental and physical condition of claimant;

 

2) whether the deceased lived with the claimant, or the frequency of visits;

 

3) the intimacy and quality of the claimant’s relationship with the deceased;

 

4) whether the claimant is emotionally self-sufficient, whether the claimants who are children have married, and whether spouse claimants have re-married; and

 

5) the joint life expectancy of the claimant and the deceased, or probable length of time the relationship would have continued.

 

There were 4 adult children:

 

1) Tom, 35, awarded $2000 for deceased father, $4000 for terminally ill mother;

 

2) Kelly, 32, awarded $2,500 for father, $7,000 for loss of mother’s guidance, care and companionship and $2,500 for loss of her services;

 

3) Mark, 31, awarded $3500 for father, $7500 for mother; and

 

4) Kathy, 28, awarded $3,500 for father and $10,000 for mother.

 

Riggs v Toronto Hospital, 1993 CarswellOnt 2752 (Available on WL Canada) (Ont Ct J (Gen Div)). The 71 year old mother died as a result of medical negligence. She had four adult children. She was described as a confidante of her daughters (aged 38 and 40), and close to her two adult sons (aged 36 and 46).

 

$10,000
Grzywacz v Vanderheide, 1992 CarswellOnt 3190 (Available on WL Canada) (Ont Ct J (Gen Div)). The mother died as the result of an MVA. She had lived with her son at one point, caring for his child and providing him with housekeeping services. She immigrated to Canada, and they planned that the son and his family would also emigrate and that they would live together as a family unit.

 

$20,000
Maciuk v Maciuk, 1989 CarswellOnt 1618 (Available on WL Canada) (Ont SC). The mother, aged 72, died from injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident. Two sons claimed damages under the FLA. Osborne J found that her family relied on her for leadership and affection. One son lived near his mother and they saw each other frequently. The other lived in the United States and saw her less frequently, although there were at least annual visits between them.

 

In coming to an assessment of damages, the court considered:

1) the deceased’s age;

 

2) that she did not live with the FLA claimants;

 

3) grief is not compensable;

 

4) the geographical proximity between where the claimants lived and the deceased; and

 

5) that the FLA claimants who lived in the USA did not give evidence (at para 15).

 

$12,500 for the son who lived closer to his mother;

$10,000 for the son who saw her less frequently.

Bodnar Estate v Home Insurance Co, 1987 CarswellOnt 1764 (Available on WL Canada) (Ont SC), varied on other grounds, 1990 CarswellOnt 2476 (Ont CA). The father was killed in an MVA. His oldest son was a self-sufficient young adult. He was close to his father. $15,000

If seeing damage awards such as these makes you upset, it should. The death of a loved one is grossly undervalued by Ontario Courts and is not properly compensated for. It would be up to a Judge, with support from provincial government to change the way which fatality claims are valued on Ontario. 

 

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