Barbeau v. Ruchetta

Barbeau v. Ruchetta
(1 June 2012) Newmarket, CV-07-083931-00 (ON SC)

We represented a pedestrian, Nancy, who was walking in a crosswalk when an inattentive truck driver struck her. As a result of the accident, Nancy suffered a significant fracture of her left tibia and fibula, which required emergent surgery and three additional surgeries, including a fusion. It was expected that she would require an additional three surgeries throughout her lifetime.

Nancy returned to her administrative job because she loved what she did, but she struggled with pain. The defendant’s insurer refused to acknowledge that she would ever have a loss of income. We proceeded to trial. We called on Nancy’s treating orthopaedic surgeon and family doctor to testify to her ongoing limitations, and we flew an independent witness in from Texas to tell the jury about the severity of the impact.

The jury returned a verdict awarding Nancy enough compensation to allow her to work significantly reduced hours until her retirement.