Tag: Lally v. He

Reasons for judgement were released this week by the BC Supreme Court, Vancouver Registry, assessing damages for persistent back and neck injuries.
In the recent case (Lally v. He) the Plaintiff was involved in a 2011 intersection collision that the Defendant accepted fault for.  The collision resulted in soft tissue injuries and symptoms persisted to the time of trial.  The Court assessed non-pecuniary damages at $75,000 but reduced these by 10% for the Plaintiff’s failure to follow through with an active rehab program that could have helped improve the symptoms.  In reaching this assessment Madam Justice Warren provided the following reasons:
[93]         I have concluded that as a result of the accident, Ms. Lally has suffered pain and a loss of enjoyment of life, and that will continue to some extent, into the foreseeable future.
[94]         As a result of the injuries she sustained in the accident, Ms. Lally suffered from severe pain in her neck, back and shoulder for several months.  The neck pain triggered headaches that, at times, were severe.  Although the pain gradually improved, she has been left with less severe but persistent neck and shoulder pain as well as occasional low back pain.  While she is likely to experience improvement in her symptoms with active rehabilitation, particularly with respect to the low back and shoulder, even with sustained, active rehabilitation, she will likely continue to suffer from occasional pain in her neck and, to a lesser extent, her low back and shoulder.
[95]         Ms. Lally’s pain is exacerbated by repetitive activities, heavy lifting or working at a level higher than her shoulders.  She cannot sit still for long.  When driving she has difficulty moving her head from side to side.  When she watches television, reads or uses a computer she has to move her neck or it becomes stiff.  Household chores and physical duties at work exacerbate the pain and when the neck pain is particularly bad it develops into a headache.  This happens between two and five times a week and the headache lasts up to eight or nine hours.  The neck pain disturbs her sleep.
[96]         The pain has affected Ms. Lally’s mood.  Before the accident, her mood was good and she enjoyed spending time with her family.  For the first few months after the accident she was quiet and spent most of her time resting because of the pain.  She continues to spend much of her non-working time resting at home using a massager and heat pad.
[97]         Ms. Lally used to do the majority of the housework before the accident.  Since the accident she has been limited to light housework such as cooking and doing dishes.  She did not testify about any other impacts on her lifestyle…

[100]     Having considered all the authorities and the factors discussed in Stapley, I assess Ms. Lally’s non-pecuniary damages at $75,000, prior to any adjustment for her failure to mitigate.  For the reasons already expressed, I reduce that amount by 10% to reflect her failure to have participated in a regular, sustained program of active rehabilitation.