Legal Blog

A Fly In My Drink

Wednesday, August 7, 2007

Mustapha v. Culligan of Canada [2006] O.J. No. 4964 (C.A)

Mustapha v. Culligan is a case where Mr. Mustapha, a neat freak, found dead fly parts floating in his Culligan water distributor. At trial, he was awarded $341,775. Mr. Mustapha alleged he suffered from psychological harm as a result of the dead fly parts. He said he was suffering from depression, nightmares and anxiety. All this despite, the fact the bottle with the dead fly parts remained unopened.

The Ontario Court of Appeal didn't buy it, and dismissed Mr. Mustapha's claim. Recently, this year Mr. Mustapha was granted leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.

The Supreme Court of Canada now has the opportunity to crystallize a complete test for nervous shock and psychological harm.

Mr. Mustapha's claim is primarily based on nervous shock and psychological harm wherein, he claims that due to Culligan's negligent act he is unable to live his pre-incident lifestyle.

His wife's Family Law Act claim was dismissed at trial. However, his case will now be examined by the Supreme Court.

If the Supreme Court decides in Mr. Mustapha's favour, the tort of nervous shock and psychological harm will be expanded considerably and will be a serious blow to insurers and large corporations alike.

Insurance companies are using the case of Mr. Mustapha as case studies for focus groups involving insurance medical assessors in order to view their reaction.

As a Plaintiff's lawyer we must always remain open to novel litigation ideas to protect and preserve the rights of our clients.

The case of Mustapha will no doubt have significant consequences and will be watched closely by Plaintiff and Defence lawyers.