Watkins v Olafson: 1989

(Supreme Court of Canada) The plaintiff sought damages for his injury. He was cared for by the state between the accident and the trial and so had no claim for the cost of care during that period. The Appeal Court (British Columbia) had held that in calculating the plaintiff’s pre-trial loss of income, allowance should be made for the plaintiff’s basic living expenses.
Held: Consistently with the reasoning in Andrews, this was wrong.
McLachlin J: ‘In calculating loss of future earning capacity in cases where an award for future care is made, a deduction is made from the award for lost earning capacity for living expenses to avoid duplication between the two heads of damage. The Court of Appeal in this case applied similar reasoning to the plaintiff’s pre-trial lost income. However, the basis for making a deduction on this account – duplication between two heads of damage – was lacking, there being no award for pre-trial cost of care. No case was cited to us in which a deduction for living expenses has been made from damages for pre-trial loss of earning capacity and I see no need to introduce such a practice.’

Judges:

McLachlin J

Citations:

[1989] 2 SCR 750

Citing:

AppliedAndrews v Grand and Toy Alberta Ltd 1978
(Supreme Court of Canada) The injured plaintiff sought damages for future loss of earnings and for the cost of future care.
Held: Dickson J said: ‘It is clear that a plaintiff cannot recover for the expense of providing for basic necessities . .

Cited by:

CitedO’Brien and others v Independent Assessor HL 14-Mar-2007
The claimants had been wrongly imprisoned for a murder they did not commit. The assessor had deducted from their compensation a sum to represent the living costs they would have incurred if living freely. They also appealed differences from a . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Commonwealth, Damages

Updated: 01 May 2022; Ref: scu.250034