General Damages

Bekele v. Cierpich, 2008 HRTO 7 (CanLII)

[83] The Tribunal makes general damage awards to compensate for the intrinsic value of the infringement of the complainant’s rights. In Sanford v. Koop, 2005 HRTO 53 (CanLII) at para. 35, the Tribunal summarized the following factors used in assessing the appropriate quantum of general damages:

• Humiliation experienced by the complainant
• Hurt feelings experienced by the complainant
• A complainant’s loss of self-respect
• A complainant’s loss of dignity
• A complainant’s loss of self-esteem
• A complainant’s loss of confidence
• The experience of victimization
• Vulnerability of the complainant
• The seriousness, frequency and duration of the offensive treatment

[96] The Tribunal makes the following order:

• (1) Joanna Cierpich shall pay Kifle Bekele $8,000 in general damages and $2,000 in damages for mental anguish, together with prejudgment interest on these amounts at the rate of 2.3% from July 29, 2004.