SUPREME
COURT OF CANADA
Between:
Her
Majesty the Queen in Right of the Province of British Columbia
Appellant
/ Respondent on cross‑appeal
v.
Dean
Richard Zastowny
Respondent
/ Appellant on cross‑appeal
Coram: McLachlin
C.J. and Bastarache, Binnie, LeBel, Deschamps, Fish, Abella, Charron and
Rothstein JJ.
Reasons
for Judgment:
(paras. 1 to 45)
|
Rothstein J.
(McLachlin C.J. and Bastarache, Binnie, LeBel, Deschamps, Fish, Abella and
Charron JJ. concurring)
|
______________________________
British Columbia
v. Zastowny, [2008] 1 S.C.R. 27, 2008 SCC 4
Her Majesty
The Queen in Right
of the
Province of British Columbia Appellant/Respondent
on cross‑appeal
v.
Dean Richard Zastowny Respondent/Appellant
on cross‑appeal
Indexed as: British Columbia v. Zastowny
Neutral citation: 2008 SCC 4.
File No.: 31552.
2007: December 14; 2008: February 8.
Present:
McLachlin C.J. and Bastarache, Binnie, LeBel, Deschamps, Fish, Abella, Charron
and Rothstein JJ.
on appeal from the court of appeal for british columbia
Damages — Past and future wage loss — Periods of
incarceration — Plaintiff seeking damages for injuries suffered as consequence
of sexual assaults — Whether plaintiff entitled to compensation for wage loss
while he was incarcerated — Whether plaintiff can be compensated for time
spent in prison after he became eligible for parole — Whether recovery for past
wage loss while incarcerated barred by application of ex turpi causa non oritur
actio doctrine or novus actus interveniens doctrine — Whether Court of Appeal
erred in reducing award for loss of future earnings.
In 1988, Z was twice sexually assaulted by a prison
official while imprisoned for a break and enter committed to support a crack
cocaine addiction. After his release from prison, Z became addicted to heroin
and a repeat offender. He was in prison for 12 of the next 15 years. In
2003, Z commenced an action seeking damages for the sexual assaults. A
psychologist testified that the assaults caused Z to start using heroin and
exacerbated his substance abuse and criminality. Z was awarded general and
aggravated damages, the cost of future counselling, and compensation for past
and future wage losses. The award for past wage losses included compensation
for time spent in prison. The Court of Appeal reduced the award for past wage
loss in order to compensate Z only for the time spent in prison after
eligibility for parole and it reduced Z’s future wage loss by 30 percent
to reflect his high risk of recidivism.
Held: The appeal should
be allowed and the cross‑appeal should be dismissed.
A person is not entitled to compensation for periods of
unemployment due to incarceration for conduct which the criminal law has
determined worthy of punishment, except for exceptional circumstances such as a
wrongful conviction. To hold otherwise would create a “clash” between the
criminal and civil law which would compromise the integrity of our justice
system. Compensation for wages lost while in prison should only be given where
it does not undermine a lawfully imposed criminal sanction. [3] [42]
The doctrine of ex turpi causa non oritur actio is
a defence that invalidates an otherwise valid and enforceable tort action in
order to preserve the integrity of the legal system. It precludes damage
awards that allow a person to profit from illegal or wrongful conduct or that
permit evasion or rebate of a penalty prescribed by the criminal law. It does
not preclude damages for personal injury. Because it is a defence, it is
independent of the duty of care owed by the defendant and the defendant must
prove that the plaintiff’s illegal or immoral conduct precludes the action. In
this case, Z should not be compensated for loss of wages while in prison
because such compensation would constitute a rebate of the consequences of Z’s
criminal acts. Z is personally responsible for his acts and their
consequences. He cannot attribute them to others and evade or seek rebate of
those consequences. No distinction should be made between “core time” of
incarceration and “extra time” because Z’s lawfully imposed sentence consisted
of both time before and after parole eligibility. [18] [20] [22] [30] [32]
The novus actus interveniens doctrine should not
be conflated with the ex turpi doctrine. A factual chain of causation
is not broken because the civil law is brought into conflict with the criminal
law. Applying the novus actus doctrine in this case would
inappropriately suggest that the chain of causation was broken by Z going to
prison. No basis arises to interfere with the trial judge’s finding of
causation or the damages awarded for wages lost when Z was not in prison. The
award for past wage loss should be reduced to exclude the periods of time when
Z was in prison. [36-39]
With respect to the cross-appeal, the Court of Appeal
did not err in reducing the award for future wage loss. Z represents a high
risk of recidivism and the award should be reduced to reflect the likelihood of
Z being sent back to prison. [44]
Cases Cited
Discussed: Hall v.
Hebert, [1993] 2 S.C.R. 159; H.L. v. Canada (Attorney General),
[2005] 1 S.C.R. 401, 2005 SCC 25; referred to: Bazley v. Curry,
[1999] 2 S.C.R. 534; Quebec (Commission des droits de la personne et des
droits de la jeunesse) v. Maksteel Québec Inc., [2003] 3 S.C.R. 228, 2003
SCC 68; State Rail Authority of New South Wales v. Wiegold (1991), 25
N.S.W.L.R. 500; Clunis v. Camden and Islington Health Authority, [1998]
Q.B. 978; Worrall v. British Railways Board, [1999] E.W.J. No. 2025
(QL).
Authors
Cited
Banakas, E. K. “Tort Damages and the Decline of
Fault Liability: Plato Overruled, But Full Marks to Aristotle!”, [1985] Cambridge
L.J. 195.
Great Britain. Law Commission.
Consultation Paper No. 160. The Illegality Defence in Tort: A
Consultation Paper. London: Stationery Office, 2001.
APPEAL and CROSS-APPEAL from a judgment of the British
Columbia Court of Appeal (Finch C.J.B.C. and Saunders and Smith JJ.A.) (2006),
269 D.L.R. (4th) 510, 225 B.C.A.C. 191, 371 W.A.C. 191, 40 C.C.L.T. (3d) 240,
[2006] B.C.J. No. 997 (QL), 2006 BCCA 221, setting aside in part a
judgment of Cohen J., [2004] B.C.J. No. 2044 (QL), 2004 BCSC 1273. Appeal
allowed and cross‑appeal dismissed.
Keith L. Johnston
and Karen Horsman, for the appellant/respondent on cross‑appeal.
Megan R. Ellis, for
the respondent/appellant on cross‑appeal.
The judgment of the Court was delivered by
Rothstein J. —
I. Introduction
[1]
This appeal raises the issue of when — if ever — an individual may be
awarded damages for past wage loss for time in which he or she was
incarcerated.
[2]
The respondent, Dean Richard Zastowny, was imprisoned when he was 18
years old for a break and enter committed to support his crack cocaine
addiction. While incarcerated, he was twice sexually assaulted by a prison
official named Roderic David MacDougall. After his release, Zastowny became
addicted to heroin and a repeat offender. He spent 12 of the next 15 years in
prison for a variety of offences. In 1996, while in prison, Zastowny became
aware of an investigation into MacDougall. He disclosed to police that
MacDougall had abused him. Consequently, MacDougall was convicted of the
sexual assaults. Zastowny then brought an action for damages, including
damages for lost wages. The trial judge awarded Zastowny general and
aggravated damages due to the assaults, as well as past and future wage loss
due to the effect of the assaults. The award for past wage loss included
compensation for his time spent in incarceration. The Court of Appeal reduced
the award for past wage loss in order to compensate Zastowny only for the time
he spent in prison after he became eligible for parole and reduced his future
wage loss by 30 percent to reflect his high risk of recidivism.
[3]
In my view, except for exceptional circumstances such as a person having
been wrongly convicted, he or she is not entitled to compensation for periods
of unemployment due to incarceration for conduct which the criminal law has
determined worthy of punishment and the consequences of that punishment. To
hold otherwise would create a “clash” between the criminal and civil law which
would compromise the integrity of our justice system.
[4]
I would therefore allow the appeal and dismiss the cross-appeal.
II. Facts
[5]
Zastowny was suspended from school in grade 9 for using marijuana and
dropped out of school in grade 10. As a teenager, in addition to marijuana, he
used acid, mushrooms and alcohol, and eventually at the age of 17, he started
using crack cocaine and developed a serious dependency. He turned to crime to
support his habit and in 1988, at the age of 18, he was convicted of breaking
and entering and was sent to Oakalla, a male correctional centre in British
Columbia.
[6]
MacDougall was a classification officer at the centre responsible for
placing prisoners in the system. MacDougall sexually assaulted Zastowny twice
by performing forced fellatio on him. He overcame Zastowny’s resistance by
threatening him with inmate violence and also induced Zastowny to cooperate by
promising a transfer to a less threatening correctional centre. Zastowny did
not tell anyone what had happened.
[7]
Shortly after the second assault, Zastowny was moved to a forestry work
camp. He fled the camp, was caught and was returned to Oakalla to serve the
rest of his sentence. After his release in 1989, he became dependent on
heroin. Zastowny was incarcerated for various offences over 12 of the
following 15 years. While in prison for a robbery committed in 1996, he became
aware of an investigation into MacDougall and he called the police. MacDougall
was charged with the offences against Zastowny and others and convicted after
two trials.
[8]
A psychologist, Dr. Robert Ley, with an expertise in assessing and
counselling cocaine and heroin addicts testified at trial. He opined that
Zastowny’s anti-social behaviour and criminality resulted from the assaults.
His report stated that Zastowny’s self‑concept and self‑esteem were
reasonably stable before the assaults but that after the assaults, he had low
self-esteem, anti-social behaviour and suffered sexual anxiety. Dr. Ley linked
Zastowny’s resentment and rebelliousness towards correctional officers to the
assaults. He attributed Zastowny’s alcohol use, subsequent choice of heroin as
his preferred drug, and greater need to obliterate himself to the assaults. He
opined that Zastowny had a good work ethic and record up until he was 18 years
old, when he became addicted to crack cocaine, whereafter he had, for the most part,
not sustained employment. He concluded that Zastowny’s substance abuse and
criminality directly interfered with his employment and his substance abuse was
significantly exacerbated by the sexual assaults.
III. Decisions
Below
A. British
Columbia Supreme Court, [2004] B.C.J. No. 2044 (QL), 2004 BCSC 1273
[9]
Zastowny brought a successful action for damages against the Province of
British Columbia. The Province conceded at trial that the vicarious liability
test articulated in Bazley v. Curry, [1999] 2 S.C.R. 534, was met, and
thus the Province — as MacDougall’s employer — was vicariously liable for the
injuries suffered by Zastowny as a consequence of the assaults. Cohen J.
relied heavily on the evidence of psychologist Dr. Ley. He ordered the
Province to pay general and aggravated damages of $60,000, as well as $15,000
for future counselling, $150,000 for past wage loss and $50,000 for future
income loss.
[10]
Cohen J. awarded damages for wage loss for time spent in incarceration
due to the effect of MacDougall’s assaults. He held that MacDougall’s
contribution to Zastowny’s mistrust of the criminal justice system and his
alienation from justice authorities led Zastowny to conceal his abuse and led
to greater sentences than he would have received had he disclosed the abuse.
Further, Zastowny’s stance in prison in regards to prison authorities meant
that he served most of his sentences to his mandatory release date. He held it
was unlikely that Zastowny would have been sentenced as he was or served his
sentences to their maximums had the courts and prison officials known that he
had been sexually assaulted by a prison officer.
[11]
Cohen J. conducted an extensive review and analysis of cases dealing
with the doctrine of ex turpi causa non oritur actio — no right of
action arises from a base cause. He concluded that the ex turpi
doctrine did not apply in the present case to deny Zastowny damages for loss of
wages while incarcerated because the wages claimed could not be considered
profits from Zastowny’s illegal activity or an evasion or rebate of his
criminal punishment.
[12]
Cohen J. also awarded compensation for future income loss, noting that
the assaults would likely contribute to Zastowny experiencing difficulty with
employers or any individual in a position of authority.
B. British
Columbia Court of Appeal (2006), 269 D.L.R. (4th) 510, 2006 BCCA 221
[13]
The Court of Appeal divided three ways on the issue of compensation for
wage loss due to incarceration. Finch C.J.B.C. held that the trial judge’s
order should be upheld.
[14]
Smith J.A. found that Zastowny was precluded from compensation for loss
of earnings while imprisoned. He would have reduced the award for past loss of
earning capacity by 80 percent to exclude the period of Zastowny’s
incarceration (12 out of 15 years).
[15]
He found that the ex turpi doctrine had no relevance because
Zastowny’s “cause of action does not arise out of his own illegal or immoral
conduct”. Rather, he would have denied an award for past wage loss while
incarcerated on the doctrine of novus actus interveniens — a new act
intervenes. In his view, Zastowny’s criminal conduct after the sexual assaults
broke the causal chain between the sexual assaults and his imprisonment.
[16]
Saunders J.A. concluded that Zastowny should recover some of his wage
loss while incarcerated. She divided Zastowny’s incarceration into
non-compensable “core time” (time before eligibility for parole) which she
found was his responsibility to bear as the consequence of his criminal
behaviour and compensable “extra time” (time after eligibility for parole)
which she held was more directly related to Zastowny’s response to the
assaults. She thus reduced the award for past wage loss by only 40 percent.
[17]
In order to break the deadlock and make an effective order, Smith J.A.
acceded to the disposition proposed by Saunders J.A. but was clear that in
doing so, he was not resiling from anything that he said in his reasons.
IV. Analysis
A. Appeal:
Damages for Wage Loss During Periods of Incarceration
[18]
The issue in the appeal is whether a plaintiff is barred from
compensation for loss of wages during a period of time that he is unable to
work because he is incarcerated.
(1) The Ex Turpi Causa Non Oritur Actio Doctrine
[19]
The ex turpi doctrine, as applied in tort, has not historically
been well understood. In Hall v. Hebert, [1993] 2 S.C.R. 159, McLachlin
J. (as she then was) says that its application in tort, “in both Canada and
elsewhere, has had a chequered history” (p. 171). The seminal case explaining
the judicial policy underlying the ex turpi doctrine and its application
in the context of tort law is the majority judgment of McLachlin J. in Hall
v. Hebert.
[20]
The question is, “under what circumstances should the immoral or
criminal conduct of a plaintiff bar the plaintiff from recovering damages to
which he or she would otherwise be entitled” (p. 169). The following
principles and approach are established in Hall v. Hebert and are
applicable in the present case.
1.
Application of the ex turpi doctrine in the tort context
invalidates otherwise valid and enforceable actions in tort (p. 169).
2.
Therefore, its application must be based on a firm doctrinal foundation
and be made subject to clear limits and should occur “in very limited
circumstances” (p. 169).
3.
The only justification for its application is the preservation of the
integrity of the legal system. This concern is only in issue where a damage
award in a civil suit would allow a person to profit from illegal or wrongful
conduct or would permit evasion or rebate of a penalty prescribed by the
criminal law (p. 169).
It would, in
short, introduce an inconsistency in the law. It is particularly important in
this context that we bear in mind that the law must aspire to be a unified
institution, the parts of which — contract, tort, the criminal law — must be in
essential harmony. For the courts to punish conduct with the one hand while
rewarding it with the other, would be to “create an intolerable fissure in the
law’s conceptually seamless web”: Weinrib, supra, at p. 42. We thus see
that the concern, put at its most fundamental, is with the integrity of the
legal system. [p. 176]
4.
The ex turpi doctrine generally does not preclude an award of
damages in tort because such awards tend to compensate the plaintiff rather
than amount to “profit”:
Such damages accomplish nothing more than to put the plaintiff in the
position he or she would have been in had the tort not occurred. . . . [A
plaintiff should get] only the value of, or a substitute for, the injuries he
or she has suffered by the fault of another. He or she gets nothing for or by
reason of the fact he or she was engaged in illegal conduct. [pp. 176-77]
5.
The ex turpi doctrine is a defence in a tort action. The
plaintiff’s illegal conduct does not give rise to a judicial discretion to
negate or refuse to consider the duty of care which goes to the relationship
between a plaintiff and a defendant. It is independent of that relationship.
The defendant may have caused harm by acting wrongly or negligently, but the
“responsibility for this wrong is suspended only because concern for the
integrity of the legal system trumps the concern that the defendant be
responsible” (pp. 181-82).
6.
Treating the ex turpi doctrine as a defence places the onus on
the defendant to prove the illegal or immoral conduct that precludes the
plaintiff’s action. And as a defence, it allows for segregation between claims
for personal injury and claims that would constitute profit from illegal or
immoral conduct or the evasion of or a rebate of a penalty provided by the
criminal law.
[21]
In the case at bar, there is no challenge to the awards made for the personal
injury suffered by Zastowny from the sexual assaults, namely the awards of
general and aggravated damages and for future counselling. Nor is there a
challenge to the award of past wage loss for the period when Zastowny was not
incarcerated. The sole issue on the appeal is whether Zastowny is entitled to
compensation for wage loss while he was incarcerated.
[22]
Zastowny’s wage loss while incarcerated is occasioned by the illegal
acts for which he was convicted and sentenced to serve time. In my view,
therefore, the ex turpi doctrine bars Zastowny from recovering damages
for time spent in prison because such an award would introduce an inconsistency
in the fabric of law. This is because such an award would be, as McLachlin J.
described in Hall v. Hebert, at p. 178, “giving with one hand what it
takes away with the other”. When a person receives a criminal sanction, he or
she is subject to a criminal penalty as well as the civil consequences that are
the natural result of the criminal sanction. The consequences of imprisonment
include wage loss. As Deschamps J. found in Quebec (Commission des droits
de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse) v. Maksteel Québec Inc.,
[2003] 3 S.C.R. 228, 2003 SCC 68, at para. 33, “[e]very incarcerated offender
must suffer the consequences that result from being imprisoned, namely loss of
employment for unavailability.” An award of damages for wages lost while
incarcerated would constitute a rebate of the natural consequence of the penalty
provided by the criminal law.
[23]
Preserving the integrity of the justice system by preventing
inconsistency in the law is a matter of judicial policy that underlies the ex
turpi doctrine. “Judicial policy” was this Court’s justification for
barring a similar claim for past wage loss due to incarceration in H.L. v.
Canada (Attorney General), [2005] 1 S.C.R. 401, 2005 SCC 25. In that case,
the plaintiff was a resident of a First Nations reserve. When he was 14 years
old he joined a boxing club on the reserve that was operated by the Department
of Indian and Northern Affairs and administered by William Starr. Starr
sexually assaulted the appellant by subjecting him to two acts of masturbation.
H.L. became addicted to alcohol, had emotional difficulties, and engaged in
criminal conduct. He claimed damages from the Government of Canada, including
loss of income both past and future, as a consequence of the sexual assaults.
The claim included loss during periods of time for which he was incarcerated.
His claim succeeded at trial, but was overturned by the Saskatchewan Court of
Appeal on the awards for loss of income.
[24]
This Court allowed the appeal to the extent of restoring the award for
past wage loss while H.L. was at liberty, but excluding recovery for the
periods of time he was incarcerated. Fish J. for the majority concluded that
an award for wage loss due to incarceration was not only unsupported by the
evidence, but was, in any event, contrary to judicial policy:
In calculating H.L.’s loss of past earnings, the trial judge did not
reduce the damages awarded to reflect the time H.L. spent in prison. The Court
of Appeal intervened in this respect — quite properly, in my view. As Cameron
J.A. noted, to compensate an individual for loss of earnings arising from
criminal conduct undermines the very purpose of our criminal justice system . .
.; an award of this type, if available in any circumstances, must be justified
by exceptional considerations of a compelling nature and supported by clear and
cogent evidence of causation.
. . .
Thus, on any view of the matter, the trial judge’s
finding that Mr. Starr’s sexual abuse of H.L. caused his loss of income due to
imprisonment is both contrary to judicial policy and unsupported by the
evidence. [Emphasis added; paras. 137 and 143.]
[25]
Bastarache J. dissented in H.L. but his views on the specific
issue of awarding damages for wage loss for periods of incarceration were
similar to those of
Fish J. In
writing for himself and two other judges, he found that to compensate a
plaintiff for lost wages due to incarceration would “undermine the principles
of our criminal justice system” (para. 344). In concluding as much,
Bastarache J. pointed to Samuels J.A.’s reasons in the Australian case State
Rail Authority of New South Wales v. Wiegold (1991), 25 N.S.W.L.R. 500
(C.A.), at p. 514:
If the plaintiff has been convicted and sentenced for a crime, it means
that the criminal law has taken him to be responsible for his actions, and has
imposed an appropriate penalty. He or she should therefore bear the
consequences of the punishment, both direct and indirect. If the law of
negligence were to say, in effect, that the offender was not responsible for his
actions and should be compensated by the tortfeasor, it would set the
determination of the criminal court at nought. It would generate the sort of
clash between civil and criminal law that is apt to bring the law into
disrepute. [Emphasis added.]
[26]
H.L. is authority for the proposition that the judicial policy
that underlies the ex turpi doctrine precludes evasion or a rebate of
the consequences of the criminal penalty, both direct and indirect.
[27]
The ex turpi doctrine has been applied by the courts of the
United Kingdom on a basis similar to that found appropriate in Hall v.
Hebert and H.L. In Clunis v. Camden and Islington Health
Authority, [1998] Q.B. 978 (C.A.), the plaintiff had been discharged from a
hospital where he had been detained under the U.K.’s Mental Health Act 1983.
His mental condition deteriorated and two months later he stabbed a stranger to
death. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He subsequently brought an action
against his local health authority for negligence. He claimed that in consequence
of the health authority’s breach of duty he would be detained for longer than
he otherwise would have been and was unlikely to regain his liberty for many
years. The Court of Appeal found that he had no cause of action because his
claim was “essentially based” on an illegal act. Lord Justice Beldam stated, at
p. 990:
[T]he plaintiff’s claim is essentially based on his illegal act of
manslaughter; he must be taken to have known what he was doing and that it was
wrong, notwithstanding that the degree of his culpability was reduced by reason
of mental disorder. The court ought not to allow itself to be made an
instrument to enforce obligations alleged to arise out of the plaintiff’s own
criminal act and we would therefore allow the appeal on this ground.
As pointed out
by the United Kingdom Law Commission, Consultation Paper No. 160, The
Illegality Defence in Tort (2001), at _4.100:
Clunis v. Camden and Islington Health Authority . . . seems
entirely justifiable if the rationale of consistency is accepted: it would be
quite inconsistent to imprison or detain someone on the grounds that he was
responsible for a serious offence and then to compensate him for the detention.
[28]
A similar conclusion was reached in Worrall v. British Railways Board,
[1999] E.W.J. No. 2025 (QL) (C.A.), in which Lord Justice Mummery stated, at
para. 34:
Having been convicted of those offences the plaintiff must be treated in
this action as fully and personally responsible in law for his deliberate
criminal acts and for the consequences of them, including financial loss
resulting from the criminal conviction. It would be inconsistent with his
criminal conviction to attribute to the negligent defendant in this action any
legal responsibility for the financial consequences of crimes which he has been
found guilty of having deliberately committed.
[29]
Cohen J. rejected the application of the ex turpi doctrine
because he found that “compensation for lost wages [was not] an evasion or
‘rebate’ of the plaintiff’s criminal punishment” (para. 245); that the criminal
penalty was a term of confinement and he was not making an award to compensate
for confinement. Although he had the benefit of the United Kingdom and
Australian precedents that denied compensation for the civil consequence of
incarceration, he did not have the decision of this Court in H.L.
[30]
The judicial policy that underlies the ex turpi doctrine
precludes damages for wage loss due to time spent in incarceration because it
introduces an inconsistency in the fabric of the law that compromises the
integrity of the justice system. In asking for damages for wage loss for time
spent in prison, Zastowny is asking to be indemnified for the consequences of
the commission of illegal acts for which he was found criminally responsible.
Zastowny was punished for his illegal acts on the basis that he possessed
sufficient mens rea to be held criminally responsible for them. He is
personally responsible for his criminal acts and the consequences that flow
from them. He cannot attribute them to others and evade or seek rebate of those
consequences. As noted by Samuels J.A. in State Rail, to grant a civil
remedy for any time spent in prison suggests that criminally sanctioned conduct
of an individual can be attributed elsewhere. E. K. Banakas discussed this
issue in “Tort Damages and the Decline of Fault Liability: Plato Overruled, But
Full Marks to Aristotle!”, [1985] Cambridge L.J. 195, at p. 197:
Although it is morally irrational to punish a person unable to account
for his actions, it is even less rational to compensate such a person for
his punishment following his unchallenged conviction for a mens rea
offence; if the conviction stands, punishment is a lawful injury, if
not, there should be no punishment at all and no injury of the
kind compensated in this case. Tort law has enough on its plate without having
to play criminal law’s conscience; besides, if lawful injury, inflicted
by the courts themselves, starts being compensated in negligence, where will it
all end? [Underlining added.]
(2) Distinguishing Between “Core Time” and
“Extra Time”
[31]
Saunders J.A. divided Zastowny’s periods of incarceration into
non-compensable “core time” (time before eligibility for parole) and
compensable “extra time” (time after eligibility for parole), and awarded
damages for the latter. Aside from evidentiary concerns respecting this
division, I am unable to agree in principle with this approach.
[32]
Zastowny was serving a lawfully imposed criminal sentence. There should
be no distinction between “core time” and “extra time” because Zastowny’s
lawfully imposed sentence consisted of both. To award damages for any period
of incarceration pursuant to a lawfully imposed sentence would create that
conflict between the criminal and civil law which the judicial policy
underlying the ex turpi doctrine requires be precluded. In the words of
McLachlin J. in Hall v. Hebert, “concern for the integrity of the legal
system trumps the concern that the defendant be responsible” (p. 182). It
would be inconsistent to incarcerate a person for a criminal offence and then
compensate him for the incarceration. Zastowny was serving the sentence
imposed for his criminal conduct. He cannot attribute part of his lawfully
imposed sentence to someone else in order to obtain a partial rebate of the
consequences of his criminal conduct.
[33]
As explained by counsel for the Province, there are other difficulties
with the notion of compensating for “extra time”. Parole boards are assigned
exclusive jurisdiction to make parole decisions. Such discretionary decisions
are contextual, involving a balancing of factors including public safety, the
interests of victims and rehabilitation and reintegration interests of the
offender. A trial court hearing an action for negligence would not be in
possession of all the material before the parole board. It would be in the
position of “second guessing” what the decision of the parole board would have
been had the board attributed some or all of the offender’s conduct while
incarcerated before parole eligibility to someone else and on that basis
granted parole. It is not for a trial court in a negligence action to review
the merits of a discretionary decision of a parole board. It would be doing
just that if it was to find that a person would not be incarcerated for extra
time but for the negligent action of another. For these reasons, the “core
time” versus “extra time” approach must be rejected.
(3) The Novus Actus Interveniens Doctrine
[34]
In the view of Smith J.A., the bar to recovery for past wage loss while
incarcerated was due to the application of the novus actus interveniens
doctrine. His conclusion was based on his interpretation of Fish J.’s words in
H.L.:
[S]ince the
basis of the decision in H.L. v. Canada (Attorney General) is that
H.L.’s intervening conduct broke the causal chain between the sexual assault
and his imprisonment, the relevant doctrine is novus actus interveniens
— “A new act intervenes”: The Dictionary of Canadian Law, (Carswell:
Scarborough, 1995) 2nd ed., p. 813.
In H.L. v. Canada (Attorney General), Fish J. said, in a passage
I have already quoted but will reproduce for convenience,
142 In any event, the chain of causation linking H.L.’s sexual abuse
to his loss of income while incarcerated was interrupted by his intervening
criminal conduct. During these periods, his lack of gainful employment was
caused by his imprisonment, not by his alcoholism; and his imprisonment
resulted from his criminal conduct, not from his abuse by Mr. Starr nor from
the alcoholism which it was found to have induced. [Emphasis added by Smith J.A.;
paras. 105-6.]
[35]
I cannot agree with Smith J.A.’s conclusion that Fish J. applied the novus
actus doctrine in H.L. Nowhere did Fish J. use the term novus
actus interveniens or conduct an analysis of why that doctrine might
apply. In my view, Fish J. was only pointing to the lack of evidence that
might have connected H.L.’s criminality with the abuse he suffered. Unlike in H.L.,
in the case at bar, there is evidence linking Zastowny’s criminality to the
sexual assaults he suffered.
[36]
With respect, I think that Smith J.A. conflated the novus actus
and ex turpi doctrines when he found at para. 111:
The question was not whether it would bring the administration of justice
into disrepute to award the respondent damages for injuries arising out of his
own criminal acts: rather, the question was whether the criminal acts of the
respondent should serve to break the chain of causation because to award him
compensation for the losses he suffered by reason of his punishment for those
criminal acts would undermine the purpose of the criminal justice system by
bringing the civil law into conflict with the criminal law, to the disrepute of
both.
[37]
The determination of a chain of causation and whether that chain was
broken is a factual one. A factual chain of causation is not broken because
the civil law is brought into conflict with the criminal law.
[38]
Indeed in this case, Cohen J., based on the evidence of Dr. Ley, was of
the view that Mr. Zastowny’s incarcerations and their lengths were attributable
to the sexual assaults he suffered. Unlike H.L., on the evidence in
this case, there is a chain of causation between the sexual assaults and
Zastowny’s criminal activity and incarceration. There is no basis to interfere
with the factual findings of Cohen J. It is notwithstanding the chain of
causation that Zastowny cannot recover damages for wages lost due to
incarceration. The reason is the judicial policy underlying the ex turpi
doctrine that the criminal and civil law should not be in conflict.
[39]
In addition, application of the novus actus doctrine here would
be inappropriate because it might suggest that a chain of causation can be
irreparably broken by a plaintiff going to prison, and that is not necessarily
the case. Depending on the facts, the chain of causation may still apply to
attribute loss of wages for the period a person is not incarcerated. In other
words, a trial judge may see fit to award a plaintiff damages for wage loss after
a period spent in incarceration. That is what this Court will do by only
reducing Zastowny’s damages for wage loss to exclude the periods of time when
he was in prison between 1988 and 2003.
(4) Exceptional Circumstances
[40]
Fish J. left open a window in H.L. when he found, at para. 137,
that an award for past wage loss due to incarceration would have to be
justified by “exceptional considerations of a compelling nature”.
[41]
No exception exists in the present case. There is no principled
distinction between the wage loss award at issue in H.L., and that at
issue in the case at bar. While I agree with Finch C.J.B.C. that the
circumstances of the sexual assaults were egregious and involved a breach of
trust by MacDougall in his capacity as an employee of the Province, this will
be true of any case in which an institutional employer is found vicariously
liable for the sexual torts of an employee. In H.L., for example, the
victim was a young teenager and his abuser was a government official on
reserve. Moreover, as noted by Smith J.A., the egregious circumstances of
Zastowny’s abuse were taken into account in the trial judge’s award of
aggravated damages.
[42]
Because awarding damages for wage loss for time spent in incarceration
would create an inconsistency between the principles governing criminal
responsibility in the criminal law and tort law, the only “exceptional
circumstance” is where an award for wage loss while in prison would not
undermine a lawfully imposed criminal sanction, such as where an individual was
wrongly convicted. No valid exceptional circumstance can result in a “clash”
between the criminal and civil law.
B. Cross-Appeal: Damages for Future Wage Loss
[43]
At trial, Cohen J. awarded $50,000 for future wage loss. Cohen J. did
not specifically state that he was awarding future income loss for periods in
which Zastowny might be incarcerated in the future, though he did say that Dr.
Ley’s opinion was that the plaintiff “represents a very high risk of drug
relapse and future criminal offending”. On appeal, both Smith and Saunders
JJ.A. agreed that this award should be reduced by 30 percent to reflect
the “high risk of recidivism” identified by the psychologist. Zastowny by
cross-appeal submits that the Court of Appeal erred in reducing the award for
loss of future earnings.
[44]
The trial judge did not exclude time Zastowny had spent in prison from
his damage award for past wage loss. Although he noted that Zastowny
represented a high risk of recidivism, there is no indication that in awarding
damages for future wage loss, he excluded time for future imprisonment based on
the high risk of that occurring. It was therefore not unreasonable for
Saunders and Smith JJ.A. to conclude that the award for future wage loss had to
be reduced in order to reflect the likelihood of Zastowny being sent back to
prison — a “very high risk” according to Dr. Ley.
V. Disposition
[45]
I would allow the appeal and dismiss the cross-appeal both with costs.
Appeal allowed with costs. Cross‑appeal dismissed with costs.
Solicitor for the appellant/respondent on cross‑appeal:
Attorney General of British Columbia, Vancouver.
Solicitors for the respondent/appellant on cross‑appeal: Megan
Ellis & Company, Vancouver.