Case Summaries Category Archives

H.C. v. SSQ Life Insurance Company Inc., 2024 ONSC 53 (CanLII)

Written by Danielle Bartlett / Case Summaries / June 28, 2024

In this long-term disability matter H.C., Justice Doyle ruled that the plaintiff was not required to produce the redacted notes and records of her long-time treating psychologist. The Court also granted the plaintiff’s cross-motion for anonymization of the parties’ names as well as a sealing order of the psychologist’s treating records. The case sets out the general principles on redactions of records as well as the Wigmore criteria, and that such redactions be allowed if the information is not relevant to the matter and there is no good reason to produce it.

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S.K. v. Aviva Insurance Canada, 2020 CanLII 94803 (ON LAT)

Written by Amanda Mustapha / Case Summaries / June 18, 2024

In this decision, the Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT) confirms that, in accordance with the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) Superintendent’s Guideline No. 01/18 and Bulletin A-03/18, the hourly rates set out in the Form 1 are only meant to be used for the purposes of calculating monthly entitlement, and the maximum hourly rates are not to strictly apply as the maximum payable for attendant care services.

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Neary v. Aviva Insurance Company of Canada, 2024 ONSC 2510 (CanLII)

Written by Rutumi Tank / Case Summaries / June 14, 2024

This decision illuminates several considerations for lawyers regarding the strategic use of Requests to Admit (RTA). Firstly, the court indicates that RTAs should be employed judiciously, adding significant value to the case without being overly repetitive and should aim to clarify the issues at dispute throughout the various stages of the litigation. Secondly, the court notes that if response deadlines for RTAs are missed, one must successfully plead inadvertence to withdraw the admission, according to Rule 51.05 . The court also reaffirms the criteria for withdrawing admissions under this rule.

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Yatar v. TD Insurance Meloche Monnex, 2024 SCC 8

Written by Samia Alam / Case Summaries / June 07, 2024

This case stemmed from a motor vehicle collision in 2010. Three denial letters with respect to Income Replacement Benefits (IRBs) and housekeeping benefits were sent to the insured throughout 2011 but no dispute resolution forms were attached to the last two denials. As part of the FSCO process, the insured applied for mediation which concluded by January 2014 giving the insured an extension of 90 days following the mediator’s report.

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Van Belois v. Bartholomew, 2023 ONSC 5799 (CanLII)

Written by Victoria Edwards / Case Summaries / May 31, 2024

The plaintiff successfully resisted a motion to compel her to attend a further defence medical examination after the deadline to serve expert reports had passed.

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Moustakis v. Agbuya,  voir dire heard October 17, 2023 in the Ont SCJ

Written by Corina Bachmann / Case Summaries / May 22, 2024

This was a voir dire heard by The Honourable Madam Justice L. Merritt. It involves a challenge by the plaintiff to one of the defence experts. Counsel for the defendants asked Merritt J. to qualify Dr. Michael Ford as an orthopaedic surgeon with experience in chronic pain and somatic symptom disorder; and the diagnosis, prognosis, causation and impairments relating to functionality and impairment. Counsel for the plaintiff opposed and asked the Court to exercise its jurisdiction as a gatekeeper and exclude Dr. Ford’s evidence, arguing that the cost of admitting his evidence outweighs its probative value.

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