A physically active and well-employed B.C. woman injured in two car accidents has been awarded $1.98 million in damages in a newly released B.C. Supreme Court decision.
Tracy Ellen Frazer sued Angelique Di Fulvio and Myles McCarthy in the wake of accidents that happened in October 2017 and November 2018.
Justice William Veenstra said liability in the accidents was admitted and that he was not required to allocate damages between the parties.
“The contested claims are for non-pecuniary damages, loss of future earning capacity, cost of future care, and loss of housekeeping capacity. No claim for past loss of earning capacity has been advanced,” Veenstra said.
The court heard Frazer had been in accidents that involved being rear-ended in 2010 and 2012 prior to the two incidents in the case before Veenstra. She suffered neck and shoulder pain, and headaches as a resulting of both incidents.
The October 2017 incident happened when Frazer was driving home from work along the Lougheed Highway in bumper-to-bumper traffic.
“At one point, she came to a stop and was hit from behind,” Veenstra said. “She reported her shoulders, neck and head as being sore, and that she had a headache, and felt a bit dizzy and nauseous.”
In November 2018, Frazer was driving to work and stopped at a red light.
Two vehicles collided in the intersection in front of her, one of them crashing into the front of her vehicle.
Frazer’s airbags deployed and her vehicle was a write-off.
“She described her thinking at the time as being very foggy. She said that the left side of her face was sore, as were her head and neck,” Veenstra said.
She tried to return to work but the decision said she could not.
“The plaintiff described this as very difficult for her because she was very career-motivated and very much wanted to continue working,” Veenstra said. “She felt she had worked very hard to get to the point she was at. However, she was only able to work for limited hours because of her injuries.”
She soon moved to another job. Frazer was earning in excess of $100,000 a year at both the new job and at the one prior to the second accident. But her symptoms began to worsen, interfering with her ability to work.
Veenstra said Frazer’s current symptoms include consistent pain in her shoulder, neck, and back, as well as frequent pain in her left hip.
“This pain is exacerbated when she is sitting for a long time, or working at a computer or travelling,” the judge said. “It often gets worse as the day goes by. It is alleviated by heat or by massage therapy. She also does stretches and exercises recommended by her kinesiologist and physiotherapist.”
Veenstra said Frazer would likely have to retire earlier than she had thought.
“In my view, the plaintiff's earning capacity has been impacted by a reduction in the likelihood of her advancing to higher-level marketing management roles,” he said.
Broken down, the court awarded:
• $175,000 in non-pecuniary damages;
• $1.5 million for loss of future earning capacity;
• $232,019 for cost of future care;
• $60,000 for loss of housekeeping capacity; and,
• $13,398 special damages.
