layer at (0,0) size 785x672 RenderView at (0,0) size 785x600 layer at (0,0) size 785x672 RenderBlock {HTML} at (0,0) size 785x672 RenderBody {BODY} at (8,8) size 769x656 RenderTable {TABLE} at (0,0) size 769x656 [border: (1px outset #808080)] RenderTableSection {TBODY} at (1,1) size 767x654 RenderTableRow {TR} at (0,0) size 767x18 RenderTableCell {TD} at (0,0) size 74x18 [border: (1px inset #808080)] [r=0 c=0 rs=1 cs=1] RenderText {#text} at (1,1) size 22x16 text run at (1,1) width 22: "foo" RenderTableCell {TD} at (74,0) size 693x18 [border: (1px inset #808080)] [r=0 c=1 rs=1 cs=1] RenderText {#text} at (1,1) size 21x16 text run at (1,1) width 21: "bar" RenderTableRow {TR} at (0,18) size 767x636 RenderTableCell {TD} at (0,18) size 767x636 [border: (1px inset #808080)] [r=1 c=0 rs=1 cs=2] RenderTable {TABLE} at (1,1) size 765x634 [border: (1px outset #808080)] RenderTableSection {TBODY} at (1,1) size 763x632 RenderTableRow {TR} at (0,2) size 763x628 RenderTableCell {TD} at (2,2) size 759x628 [border: (1px inset #808080)] [r=0 c=0 rs=1 cs=1] RenderText {#text} at (2,2) size 720x32 text run at (2,2) width 720: "When the Whiten house burned down in Renfrew Ontario, the insurer denied liability, asserting that the Plaintiff" text run at (2,18) width 477: "Daphne Whiten was the cause of the fire herself and had committed arson." RenderBR {BR} at (478,30) size 1x0 RenderBR {BR} at (2,34) size 0x16 RenderText {#text} at (2,50) size 742x64 text run at (2,50) width 740: "The insurance company had not only refused to pay, but had received opinions from its adjuster, its expert engineer" text run at (2,66) width 732: "and an investigative agency that the fire was accidental. Its own adjuster had recommended the claim be paid. The" text run at (2,82) width 735: "defendant's counsel, as the court found, had pressured experts to provide opinions supporting an arson defence and" text run at (2,98) width 742: "withheld relevant information from the experts and gave them misleading information to buttress the arson defence." RenderBR {BR} at (743,110) size 1x0 RenderBR {BR} at (2,114) size 0x16 RenderText {#text} at (2,130) size 645x16 text run at (2,130) width 645: "After the fire the Plaintiff and her husband, Keith Whiten needed welfare assistance to support them." RenderBR {BR} at (646,142) size 1x0 RenderBR {BR} at (2,146) size 0x16 RenderText {#text} at (2,162) size 747x48 text run at (2,162) width 735: "The jury, however, in a 4 week trial, disagreed with the position of the insurance company. It awarded not only the" text run at (2,178) width 747: "policy sum against the insurer, but also was sufficiently annoyed with the conduct of the company to award a further" text run at (2,194) width 241: "punitive damage award of $1 million." RenderBR {BR} at (242,206) size 1x0 RenderBR {BR} at (2,210) size 0x16 RenderText {#text} at (2,226) size 712x48 text run at (2,226) width 710: "The company appealed. At the time of the appeal, the company acknowledged that the fire was accidental. The" text run at (2,242) width 712: "Ontario Court of Appeal reversed the jury award and in a 2-1 decision determined that there should be a cap on" text run at (2,258) width 198: "punitive damages of $100,000." RenderBR {BR} at (199,270) size 1x0 RenderBR {BR} at (2,274) size 0x16 RenderText {#text} at (2,290) size 753x80 text run at (2,290) width 719: "Lawyers became hard pressed to reconcile this decision with a prior case, Hill vs. Church of Scientology. Hill, a" text run at (2,306) width 732: "Crown Attorney, had sued the Church for libel due to statements made accusing him of breaching a judge's order. " text run at (733,306) width 19: "He" text run at (2,322) width 729: "succeeded. The jury at trial, aside from awarding compensatory damages, also awarded a punitive damage sum of" text run at (2,338) width 753: "$800,000. The decision was appealed without success to the Ontario Court of Appeal and again to the Supreme Court" text run at (2,354) width 523: "of Canada. The award of punitive damages was sustained at both appellate levels." RenderBR {BR} at (524,366) size 1x0 RenderBR {BR} at (2,370) size 0x16 RenderText {#text} at (2,386) size 746x48 text run at (2,386) width 746: "In the Whiten case, the insurance industry is mounting all its ammunition to maintain the notion of a cap on punitive" text run at (2,402) width 735: "damages. It is expected that the Court of Appeal decision will receive a rough ride in the Supreme Court, given the" text run at (2,418) width 199: "Hill decision a few years prior." RenderBR {BR} at (200,430) size 1x0 RenderBR {BR} at (2,434) size 0x16 RenderText {#text} at (2,450) size 747x64 text run at (2,450) width 737: "The concept of punitive damages is designed to act as civil penalty imposed on a wrong doer, which has conducted" text run at (2,466) width 747: "itself in a vindictive manner, which offends one's sense of propriety - high handed shocking behaviour. Traditionally" text run at (2,482) width 707: "the financial abilities of the wrong doer are a factor - the deeper the pockets the more substantial the sum to be" text run at (2,498) width 59: "awarded." RenderBR {BR} at (60,510) size 1x0 RenderBR {BR} at (2,514) size 0x16 RenderText {#text} at (2,530) size 753x80 text run at (2,530) width 734: "Canadian courts have been reluctant to embrace the concept - awards such as Hill are rare. It is worthy of note that" text run at (2,546) width 735: "the dissenting reasons of Justice Laskin in Whiten were much in favour of maintaining the trial award - a lucid and" text run at (2,562) width 737: "powerful dissent written by a much respected jurist. Much attention will be given to this decision. Oral argument is" text run at (2,578) width 753: "set for the week of December 11th. A decision will likely be forthcoming in March to June time period. This decision" text run at (2,594) width 537: "will be no doubt a much quoted decision for many years, regardless of the outcome." RenderBR {BR} at (538,606) size 1x0 RenderBR {BR} at (2,610) size 0x16