Blunt
May 22nd, 2008, 03:53 PM
It's good he has to pay their court costs!
http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/428663
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Court quashes award for fly in water bottle
Read the decision May 22, 2008 11:07 AM
THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA – A man who became depressed, anxious and phobic about flies after finding a dead insect in his bottled water has lost a claim for over $300,000 in compensation from the bottling company.
The Supreme Court of Canada, in a 9-0 judgment Thursday, said Culligan of Canada Ltd. wasn't legally liable for the psychological damages suffered by Martin Mustapha, a hair stylist from Windsor, Ont.
Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, writing for the unanimous court, didn't question the fact that Mustapha had suffered real psychological harm.
Medical evidence tendered at trial three years ago indicated he was afflicted with a psychiatric illness that was "debilitating and had a significant impart on his life," wrote McLachlin.
But she also noted that experts had described Mustapha's reaction as "unusual and extreme" and concluded that Culligan could not have reasonably foreseen the harm he suffered – a key legal test for compensation in such cases.
Mustapha sued after finding a dead fly, and later half of another, in an unopened bottle of water delivered for his home dispenser in 2001.
He never drank any of the water, but said he became obsessed with thoughts of dead flies, couldn't sleep and was constantly on edge – to the point where his business and even his sex life suffered.
He was diagnosed by several doctors as suffering from severe depression, anxiety and phobias and won a damage award of $341,000 plus interest from Ontario Superior Court in 2005.
That verdict was overturned a year later by Ontario Court of Appeal, which ruled the trial judge had applied the wrong legal test for damages.
The appeal court also ordered Mustapha to pay Culligan's legal costs of roughly $30,000 to that point. He will also be hit with the bill for legal costs at the Supreme Court under the standard "loser pays" rule that applies to most such cases in Canada.
http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/428663
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Court quashes award for fly in water bottle
Read the decision May 22, 2008 11:07 AM
THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA – A man who became depressed, anxious and phobic about flies after finding a dead insect in his bottled water has lost a claim for over $300,000 in compensation from the bottling company.
The Supreme Court of Canada, in a 9-0 judgment Thursday, said Culligan of Canada Ltd. wasn't legally liable for the psychological damages suffered by Martin Mustapha, a hair stylist from Windsor, Ont.
Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, writing for the unanimous court, didn't question the fact that Mustapha had suffered real psychological harm.
Medical evidence tendered at trial three years ago indicated he was afflicted with a psychiatric illness that was "debilitating and had a significant impart on his life," wrote McLachlin.
But she also noted that experts had described Mustapha's reaction as "unusual and extreme" and concluded that Culligan could not have reasonably foreseen the harm he suffered – a key legal test for compensation in such cases.
Mustapha sued after finding a dead fly, and later half of another, in an unopened bottle of water delivered for his home dispenser in 2001.
He never drank any of the water, but said he became obsessed with thoughts of dead flies, couldn't sleep and was constantly on edge – to the point where his business and even his sex life suffered.
He was diagnosed by several doctors as suffering from severe depression, anxiety and phobias and won a damage award of $341,000 plus interest from Ontario Superior Court in 2005.
That verdict was overturned a year later by Ontario Court of Appeal, which ruled the trial judge had applied the wrong legal test for damages.
The appeal court also ordered Mustapha to pay Culligan's legal costs of roughly $30,000 to that point. He will also be hit with the bill for legal costs at the Supreme Court under the standard "loser pays" rule that applies to most such cases in Canada.