Court Of Appeal Upholds $200,000 Assessment Of Damages In Sexual Assault Case

In Zando v. Ali, 2018 ONCA 680 (CanLII) the Court of Appeal upheld a damage award of $200,000 (Generals $175,000 and punitive damages of $25,000).

The Plaintiff was a colleague of the Defendant Doctor, and they both worked at a hospital. The Plaintiff alleged that the Defendant sexually assaulted her at her home, and then he launched a campaign of harassment against her at their workplace.

There are several significant items in this case:

The Court of Appeal upheld the trial Judge's determination that damages did not depend on a finding that the victim suffered long-term psychological trauma from one incident of sexual assault; The Court of Appeal re-affirmed that damages for sexual battery or assaultfulfill a range of functions, including therecognition of the humiliating and...