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ARTICLE · 16 FEBRUARY 2012

Trend Develops For Higher Sexual Abuse Non-Pecuniary Awards

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Several recent trial decisions have awarded higher than usual non-pecuniary awards for sexual abuse, marking a possible trend toward increased compensation in this area.

CanadaLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
Elizabeth Grace
Elizabeth Grace
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Originally published in The Lawyers Weekly

Several recent trial decisions have awarded higher than usual non-pecuniary awards for sexual abuse, marking a possible trend toward increased compensation in this area.

In the spring of 2008, I analyzed the damages awarded in all reported sexual abuse decisions from Canada's common law jurisdictions.

The decisions covered roughly 23 years of jurisprudence and involved 220 plaintiffs. The data revealed that only 10 percent of these plaintiffs had received non-pecuniary awards of greater than $150,000. Only two plaintiffs had been awarded nonpecuniary damages of more than $200,000, or what amounted at the time their awards were made to roughly the inflation-adjusted personal injury "cap" on nonpecuniary damages.

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