How is a plaintiff's capacity to earn income assessed?
British Columbia, Canada
The following excerpt is from Brown v. Schindler, 1996 CanLII 8404 (BC CA):
Authorities on how this might be assessed were extensively reviewed by the majority in Pallos v. I.C.B.C. (1995), 100 B.C.L.R. (2d) 260 (C.A.) per Finch J.A. who stated at 271 that there were various means of assigning a dollar value to the loss of capacity to earn income. The cases to which we were referred suggest various means of assigning a dollar value to the loss of capacity to earn income. One method is to postulate a minimum annual income loss for the plaintiff's remaining years of work, to multiply the annual projected loss times the number of years remaining, and to calculate a present value of this sum. Another is to award the plaintiff's entire annual income for one or more years. Another is to award the present value of some nominal percentage loss per annum applied against the plaintiff's expected annual income. In the end, all of these methods seem equally arbitrary. It has, however, often been said that the difficulty of making a fair assessment of damages cannot relieve the court of its duty to do so.
"The most advanced legal research software ever built."
The above passage should not be considered legal advice. Reliable answers to complex legal questions require comprehensive research memos. To learn more visit www.alexi.com.
Other Questions
When assessing past loss of income or earning capacity, does the court consider past loss in income or future earning capacity? (British Columbia, Canada)
When assessing future earning capacity, when assessing loss of future earnings capacity, has the court ever considered a loss of income projection or projection? (British Columbia, Canada)
How is lost income earning capacity assessed in the context of loss of income for the purposes of a disability assessment? (British Columbia, Canada)
What is the test for assessing loss of future income earning capacity for a plaintiff? (British Columbia, Canada)
What is a plaintiff's loss of future income or capacity to earn income as a result of his injuries? (British Columbia, Canada)
How is a plaintiff's capacity to earn income calculated when they have lost their capacity to work? (British Columbia, Canada)
If a child has a higher income earning capacity than a mother, is the child's income producing capacity more likely to be higher than that of the mother? (British Columbia, Canada)
How have courts assessed a plaintiff's income before and after a motor vehicle accident? (British Columbia, Canada)
Is there a loss of earning capacity when there is no reduction in income earning capacity? (British Columbia, Canada)
Is a plaintiff entitled to be treated as a thin-skulled plaintiff for the purpose of damage assessment? (British Columbia, Canada)
