“Extremely Problematic” Testimony Gives Rise to Modest Damage Assessment For Chronic Injury
Given the personal and subjective ways chronic injuries can impact an individual giving reliable evidence is important. If adverse credibility findings are made in the course of an injury trial this can significantly impact a court’s overall view of the evidence. Reasons for judgement were published this week by the BC Supreme Court, Vancouver Registry, dealing with such a fact pattern.
In today’s case (Kaur v. Tse) the Plaintiff was injured in a 2016 collison. The Defendant admitted fault. The Court found that the Plaintiff suffered from chronic myofascial cervical pain and chronic mechanical pain localized on her coccyx as a result of the collision and some symptoms were ongoing at the time of trial. However non-pecuniary damages were only assessed at $17,000 in part due to mitigation issues and further in part to credibility issues the court had with the Plaintiff’s evidence. In reaching this quantum and criticizing aspects of the Plaintiff’s evidence Madam Justice Tucker provided the following reasons: