A Cloverdale woman found not at fault in two traffic crashes has been awarded $1,607,200 by a B.C. Supreme Court judge for her injuries and related damages.
The first crash, in May 2010, was a serious head-on collision. In the second crash, in May 2013, the plaintiff’s car was rear-ended while she was stopped at a light. Liability was admitted by the defendants.
Justice Gordon Funt rendered his judgment on Jan. 23 in Vancouver.
Lisa Gill, a.k.a Lisa Nagra, is a pharmacist and mother of two. She was on maternity leave when the 2010 crash happened, on Highway 10. The court heard she was travelling at 70 to 80 kilometres per hour, with her daughter in an infant car seat in the back, when a car heading in the opposite direction and in the wrong lane clipped a vehicle in front of her’s, turning it broadside and slamming into the front of her car.
Gill was taken by ambulance to hospital on a stretcher, with a neck collar on.
She was working full-time as an assistant pharmacy manager when the second, less serious, crash happened. She was promoted to pharmacy manager later that year but in 2016 asked London Drugs to re-assign her as a part-time pharmacist, the court heard.
“I have very high standards for myself and I’m far from them and it was basically getting through the day, getting the basic stuff done. But I was in a lot of pain,” Gill told the court.
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Funt found her injuries “are significant, chronic, and she will likely live with the pain for the rest of her life. Further, she had the initial fright for the well-being of her daughter. I also find that she has decided to forego the joy of having a third child because of her injuries.
“Finally, she has also truncated her professional aspirations. Achieving one’s goals brings a special satisfaction,” the judge noted. “The plaintiff is no longer “mommy is the boss,” and although employed, she will work without the realistic aspiration of working in London Drugs’ head office.”
Funt said that “the plaintiff, as a young mother also fluent in Hindi and Punjabi, would be a pharmacist warranting promotion. London Drugs has approximately 25 pharmacy manager positions in B.C.”
“The plaintiff’s injuries will continue to affect adversely most aspects of her life, including those of a young mother, a spouse, and a pharmacist,” he found. “As a result of her injuries, she is no longer capable of achieving the family and professional goals she had set for herself.”
tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com
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