blob: 52ceb3a8375b1059e47b245686862f6c504b069e [file] [log] [blame]
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text run at (2,2) width 719: "When the Whiten house burned down in Renfrew Ontario, the insurer denied liability, asserting that the Plaintiff"
text run at (2,22) width 477: "Daphne Whiten was the cause of the fire herself and had committed arson."
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text run at (2,62) width 765: "The insurance company had not only refused to pay, but had received opinions from its adjuster, its expert engineer and"
text run at (2,82) width 705: "an investigative agency that the fire was accidental. Its own adjuster had recommended the claim be paid. The"
text run at (2,102) width 735: "defendant's counsel, as the court found, had pressured experts to provide opinions supporting an arson defence and"
text run at (2,122) width 742: "withheld relevant information from the experts and gave them misleading information to buttress the arson defence."
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text run at (2,162) width 645: "After the fire the Plaintiff and her husband, Keith Whiten needed welfare assistance to support them."
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text run at (2,202) width 733: "The jury, however, in a 4 week trial, disagreed with the position of the insurance company. It awarded not only the"
text run at (2,222) width 746: "policy sum against the insurer, but also was sufficiently annoyed with the conduct of the company to award a further"
text run at (2,242) width 241: "punitive damage award of $1 million."
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text run at (2,282) width 763: "The company appealed. At the time of the appeal, the company acknowledged that the fire was accidental. The Ontario"
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text run at (2,362) width 765: "Lawyers became hard pressed to reconcile this decision with a prior case, Hill vs. Church of Scientology. Hill, a Crown"
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text run at (2,402) width 729: "succeeded. The jury at trial, aside from awarding compensatory damages, also awarded a punitive damage sum of"
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text run at (2,442) width 523: "of Canada. The award of punitive damages was sustained at both appellate levels."
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text run at (2,482) width 746: "In the Whiten case, the insurance industry is mounting all its ammunition to maintain the notion of a cap on punitive"
text run at (2,502) width 764: "damages. It is expected that the Court of Appeal decision will receive a rough ride in the Supreme Court, given the Hill"
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text run at (2,562) width 737: "The concept of punitive damages is designed to act as civil penalty imposed on a wrong doer, which has conducted"
text run at (2,582) width 768: "itself in a vindictive manner, which offends one's sense of propriety - high handed shocking behaviour. Traditionally the"
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text run at (2,642) width 757: "Canadian courts have been reluctant to embrace the concept - awards such as Hill are rare. It is worthy of note that the"
text run at (2,662) width 712: "dissenting reasons of Justice Laskin in Whiten were much in favour of maintaining the trial award - a lucid and"
text run at (2,682) width 759: "powerful dissent written by a much respected jurist. Much attention will be given to this decision. Oral argument is set"
text run at (2,702) width 759: "for the week of December 11th. A decision will likely be forthcoming in March to June time period. This decision will"
text run at (2,722) width 508: "be no doubt a much quoted decision for many years, regardless of the outcome."
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