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A landmark Supreme Court case involving complex tort law issues
Background
Overview
Our client
The Government of Northwest Territories and its Department of Mine Safety were among the defendants in a civil action following the 1992 bombing that killed nine miners working in the Royal Oaks Mines' operations at the Giant Mine in Yellowknife.
Where we began
The Workers’ Compensation Board of the Northwest Territories, having paid pensions to the miner's widows, instituted a massive subrogated civil lawsuit in their names against our client and others, alleging that some or all of them were liable along with the miner convicted of the murders for either inciting his act or for failing to prevent it. The trial judge found that our client and the other defendants were liable, as they owed a duty of care in tort, negligently breached that duty and that their actions or inactions met the "material contribution" test for causation. However, the Court of Appeal reversed on all three points, a decision which the plaintiff appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Our approach
In a five-month trial, Peter and fellow Field partner Christine Pratt argued that the Government's mine safety inspector wasn't responsible for the murders and didn't do anything wrong. This was a hard-fought case involving hard facts, and contested on each element of liability, including duty of care, standard of care, breach, causation and remoteness. The trial judge, in a 400 page decision, found all elements of the case had been met. The GNWT and other Defendants appealed and the Court of Appeal reversed the Trial Judge on every one of those elements. The matter then went to the Supreme Court of Canada.
The result
Supreme Court of Canada found the Trial Judge had not erred in holding that the GNWT owed a duty of care to the deceased miners, but agreed with the court of Appeal that the Trial Judge was wrong in finding that it had failed to meet the standard of care and had applied the incorrect test for causation. Fullowka v. Pinkerton’s of Canada Ltd., [2010] S.C.C. 5.
