Article by CNU professor influences Canadian Supreme Court

News Release - Aug. 21, 2006

Media Contact:
Karen L. Gill
Office of Communications and Public Relations
(757) 594-8428

(NEWPORT NEWS, Va.) — An article authored by a Christopher Newport University professor recently was cited as an authority by the Canadian Supreme Court and influenced the court's decision in a case.

Such citations usually are accorded to law journals published by leading law schools, law textbooks or law reference books. The article by Ronnie Cohen, professor of business law in the Joseph W. Luter, III School of Business, and Professor Shannon O'Byrne of the University of Alberta, was published in the American Business Law Journal Vol. 42.

The Canadian Supreme Court cited the article, “Cry Me a River, Recovery of Mental Distress Damages in a Breach of Contract Action – A North American Perspective,” as an authority in Sun Life Assurance of Canada v. Fidler.

The case involved a claim for mental distress damages by an insured when the company disputed its liability for disability payments under the policy. Ultimately, the payments were made but the insured sued for damages for the mental distress she suffered during the time she was not receiving her benefits.

Historically, in both Canada and in the United States, damages for mental distress were not awarded in breach of contract cases. Exceptions to the general rule had been carved out for certain types of contracts, such as those for funeral arrangements, or for situations in which the breaching party acted egregiously or in bad faith in breaching the contract. Neither of the exceptions applied to Fidler's case.

The position proposed by Cohen's article, that mental distress damages should be treated the same way as other contract damages regardless of the type of contract or aggravated circumstances of the breach, was adopted by the court in allowing Fidler's appeal.