$42,000 Non-Pecuniary Assessmet for Finger Injury to “Skilled Piano Player”
One of the hallmarks of the current justice system in BC is individuals are treated uniquely when having their injuries and losses assessed. Something the current government is hoping to take away with their proposed ICBC no fault system. Reasons for judgement were published today showing this assessment of individual justice in action.
In today’s case (Fung v. Dhaliwal) the Plaintiff was injured in a 2013 collision. Most of the injuries were transient and fully healed. The Plaintiff, however, also suffered a cut to the middle of his long finger which went on to cause long term dysfunction. The level of impairment was modest in most areas of life however the young plaintiff was a ‘skilled piano player’ and took great joy in this activity. The injury compromised his musical abilities. In assessing this unique loss and assessing non-pecuniary damages at $42,000 Madam Justice Forth provided the following reasons: