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Torts — Negligence — Duty of care — Foreseeability — Personal injury — Mental injury — Customer suing his bottled water supplier in negligence after finding remains of flies in unopened bottle — Customer claiming mental injury — Whether damages too remote to allow recovery.
"...In the course of replacing an empty bottle of drinking water with a full one, M saw a dead fly and part of another dead fly in the unopened replacement bottle. Obsessed with the event and its “revolting implications” for the health of his family, he developed a major depressive disorder, phobia and anxiety. He sued C, the supplier of the bottle of water, for psychiatric injury. The trial judge awarded him general and special damages, as well as damages for loss of business, but the Court of Appeal overturned the judgment on the basis that the injury was not reasonably foreseeable and hence did not give rise to a cause of action.
M’s damages are too remote to allow recovery. As the manufacturer of a consumable good, C owed M, the ultimate consumer of that good, a duty of care in supplying bottled water to him, and it breached the standard of care by providing M with contaminated water. The requirement of personal injury, which includes serious and prolonged psychological injury, is also met: M suffered a debilitating psychological injury which had a significant impact on his life. C’s breach caused that injury in fact, but not in law: M failed to show that it was foreseeable that a person of ordinary fortitude would suffer serious injury from seeing the flies in the bottle of water he was about to install. Unusual or extreme reactions to events caused by negligence are imaginable but not reasonably foreseeable. In this case, the trial judge erred in applying a subjective standard. [3] [6‑11] [15] [18]
The claim for damages for breach of contract also fails. M's damages could not be reasonably supposed to have been within the contemplation of the parties when they entered into their agreement.
[6] The relationship between the parties in this case does not belong to a novel category. It has long been established that the manufacturer of a consumable good owes a duty of care to the ultimate consumer of that good: Donoghue v. Stevenson. It follows that Culligan owed Mr. Mustapha a duty of care in the supplying of bottled water to him.
[7] The second question in a negligence action is whether the defendant’s behaviour breached the standard of care. A defendant’s conduct is negligent if it creates an unreasonable risk of harm (Linden and Feldthusen, at p. 130). The trial judge found that the defendant Culligan breached the standard of care by providing the plaintiff with contaminated water, and the parties did not appeal that finding before this Court. This is hardly surprising; it is clear that a supplier of bottled water intended for personal consumption is under a duty to take reasonable care to ensure that the water is not contaminated by foreign elements. The second element of liability in tort for negligence is therefore met.
[10] On the findings of the trial judge, supported by medical evidence, Mr. Mustapha developed a major depressive disorder with associated phobia and anxiety. This psychiatric illness was debilitating and had a significant impact on his life; it qualifies as a personal injury at law. It follows that Mr. Mustapha has established that he sustained damage.
[17] I add this. In those cases where it is proved that the defendant had actual knowledge of the plaintiff’s particular sensibilities, the ordinary fortitude requirement need not be applied strictly. If the evidence demonstrates that the defendant knew that the plaintiff was of less than ordinary fortitude, the plaintiff’s injury may have been reasonably foreseeable to the defendant. In this case, however, there was no evidence to support a finding that Culligan knew of Mr. Mustapha’s particular sensibilities.
[18] It follows that in order to show that the damage suffered is not too remote to be viewed as legally caused by Culligan’s negligence, Mr. Mustapha must show that it was foreseeable that a person of ordinary fortitude would suffer serious injury from seeing the flies in the bottle of water he was about to install. This he failed to do. The only evidence was about his own reactions, which were described by the medical experts as “highly unusual” and “very individual” (C.A. judgment, at para. 52). There is no evidence that a person of ordinary fortitude would have suffered injury from seeing the flies in the bottle; indeed the expert witnesses were not asked this question. Instead of asking whether it was foreseeable that the defendant’s conduct would have injured a person of ordinary fortitude, the trial judge applied a subjective standard, taking into account Mr. Mustapha’s “previous history” and “particular circumstances” (para. 227), including a number of “cultural factors” such as his unusual concern over cleanliness, and the health and well-being of his family. This was an error. Mr. Mustapha having failed to establish that it was reasonably foreseeable that a person of ordinary fortitude would have suffered personal injury, it follows that his claim must fail.
5. The Claim in Contract
[19] The plaintiff also brought a claim for damages arising out of breach of contract, although he appears not to have pursued it with vigour. This claim fails. With regards to Mr. Mustapha’s psychiatric injury, there is no inconsistency in principle or in outcome between negligence law and contract law. Damages arising out of breach of contract are governed by the expectation of the parties at the time the contract was made (Hadley v. Baxendale (1854), 9 Ex. 341, 156 E.R. 145, at p. 151, applied with respect to mental distress in Fidler v. Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada, 2006 SCC 30 (CanLII), [2006] 2 S.C.R. 3, 2006 SCC 30), as distinguished from the time of the tort, in the case of tort. I have concluded that personal injury to Mr. Mustapha was not reasonably foreseeable by the defendant at the time of the alleged tort. The same evidence suggests that Mr. Mustapha’s damages could not be reasonably supposed to have been within the contemplation of the parties when they entered into their agreement...."
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