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22 text run at (2,2) width 705: "When the Whiten house burned down in Renfrew Ontario, the insurer denied liability, asserting that the Plaintiff"
23 text run at (2,20) width 468: "Daphne Whiten was the cause of the fire herself and had committed arson."
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27 text run at (2,56) width 752: "The insurance company had not only refused to pay, but had received opinions from its adjuster, its expert engineer and"
28 text run at (2,74) width 690: "an investigative agency that the fire was accidental. Its own adjuster had recommended the claim be paid. The"
29 text run at (2,92) width 722: "defendant's counsel, as the court found, had pressured experts to provide opinions supporting an arson defence and"
30 text run at (2,110) width 723: "withheld relevant information from the experts and gave them misleading information to buttress the arson defence."
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34 text run at (2,146) width 631: "After the fire the Plaintiff and her husband, Keith Whiten needed welfare assistance to support them."
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38 text run at (2,182) width 723: "The jury, however, in a 4 week trial, disagreed with the position of the insurance company. It awarded not only the"
39 text run at (2,200) width 732: "policy sum against the insurer, but also was sufficiently annoyed with the conduct of the company to award a further"
40 text run at (2,218) width 236: "punitive damage award of $1 million."
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44 text run at (2,254) width 751: "The company appealed. At the time of the appeal, the company acknowledged that the fire was accidental. The Ontario"
45 text run at (2,272) width 703: "Court of Appeal reversed the jury award and in a 2-1 decision determined that there should be a cap on punitive"
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50 text run at (2,326) width 753: "Lawyers became hard pressed to reconcile this decision with a prior case, Hill vs. Church of Scientology. Hill, a Crown"
51 text run at (2,344) width 671: "Attorney, had sued the Church for libel due to statements made accusing him of breaching a judge's order. "
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53 text run at (2,362) width 715: "succeeded. The jury at trial, aside from awarding compensatory damages, also awarded a punitive damage sum of"
54 text run at (2,380) width 743: "$800,000. The decision was appealed without success to the Ontario Court of Appeal and again to the Supreme Court"
55 text run at (2,398) width 514: "of Canada. The award of punitive damages was sustained at both appellate levels."
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59 text run at (2,434) width 727: "In the Whiten case, the insurance industry is mounting all its ammunition to maintain the notion of a cap on punitive"
60 text run at (2,452) width 749: "damages. It is expected that the Court of Appeal decision will receive a rough ride in the Supreme Court, given the Hill"
61 text run at (2,470) width 166: "decision a few years prior."
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65 text run at (2,506) width 725: "The concept of punitive damages is designed to act as civil penalty imposed on a wrong doer, which has conducted"
66 text run at (2,524) width 755: "itself in a vindictive manner, which offends one's sense of propriety - high handed shocking behaviour. Traditionally the"
67 text run at (2,542) width 729: "financial abilities of the wrong doer are a factor - the deeper the pockets the more substantial the sum to be awarded."
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71 text run at (2,578) width 742: "Canadian courts have been reluctant to embrace the concept - awards such as Hill are rare. It is worthy of note that the"
72 text run at (2,596) width 696: "dissenting reasons of Justice Laskin in Whiten were much in favour of maintaining the trial award - a lucid and"
73 text run at (2,614) width 741: "powerful dissent written by a much respected jurist. Much attention will be given to this decision. Oral argument is set"
74 text run at (2,632) width 745: "for the week of December 11th. A decision will likely be forthcoming in March to June time period. This decision will"
75 text run at (2,650) width 499: "be no doubt a much quoted decision for many years, regardless of the outcome."
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