$70,000 Non-Pecuniary Assessment for Partly Limiting Chronic Pain

Reasons for judgement were published today by the BC Supreme Court, Vancouver Registry, assessing damages for chronic pain with partial limitations arising from a vehicle collision.

In today’s case (Rabiei v. Oster) the Plaintiff was involved in a 2016 collision.  The Defendants accepted fault.  The crash resulted in various soft tissue injuries resulting in chronic pain in the plaintiff’s neck, back and shoulder.  These injuries resulted in some impairment in the Plaintiff’s ability to work and also impacted activities outside work.  Full recovery was not expected.  In assessing non-pecuniary damages at $70, 000 Madam Justice Adair provided the following reasons:

[140]     I find that, as a result of the accident, Ms. Rabiei sustained soft tissue injuries to her neck, upper, mid and lower back.  These diagnoses are made by both Dr. Stewart, and by Dr. Parhar, who saw and examined Ms. Rabiei about a month after the accident.  These are not inconsistent with Dr. Goel’s impression concerning Ms. Rabiei’s primary injury (although he was unable to opine on what the injury was related to).  For a period of some months after the accident, she also suffered from headaches.  Physiotherapy treatments, which began at the end of April and continued until the middle of July 2016, were helpful in addressing her symptoms and improving her ability to function.  Her headaches and lower back symptoms eventually resolved.  However, Ms. Rabiei remained off work for the balance of 2016, because she remained symptomatic in her neck, upper back and left shoulder and (at least in part) because of the advice she received from Dr. Parhar.  The pain symptoms in her neck, upper back and left shoulder, while they improved, have persisted and become chronic.  Although the symptoms are not debilitating, and they come and go, they impair Ms. Rabiei’s ability to function at her pre-accident level, both with respect to her work and her activities outside of work.  Further medical improvement is unlikely, although if Ms. Rabiei follows through on recommendations to work with a kinesiologist on an active rehabilitation program, she has the opportunity to become stronger and more functional…

[148]     Ms. Rabiei is a young woman, just 30.  She has many years ahead of her to live with chronic pain symptoms.  When injured, she was just establishing a new career in B.C.  Her pre-accident work history once she arrived in B.C. showed that she was willing to work hard and was ambitious.  As a result of the injuries she sustained in the accident, she has been and will be working with pain, and is less able to pursue career goals she had for herself.  The satisfaction she can enjoy from her work is diminished.  She is less independent at home. 

[149]     Following the accident, she has been less socially active.  However, beginning with her job at Fresh, her work schedule (where she worked Fridays and weekends) must be considered a factor – she has less time available to go out dancing and to clubs with friends. 

[150]     Ms. Rabiei has given up playing the violin, which is a major loss for her.  It has also affected her social life as she and Mr. Hekmatshoar no longer get together regularly to perform.

[151]      In view of my findings above, and taking into account the factors mentioned in Stapley (including in particular Ms. Rabiei’s age and stage of life) and the cases cited to me in argument, I conclude that a fair and reasonable award of non-pecuniary damages is $70,000.