Is a plaintiff liable for any additional damage caused by a crumbling skull?
British Columbia, Canada
The following excerpt is from Niessen v. Sepulveda and Miller, 2008 BCSC 1567 (CanLII):
The metaphor of the crumbling skull illustrates that damages “need not compensate the plaintiff for any debilitating effects of the pre-existing condition which the plaintiff would have experienced anyway”. Thus, the defendant is liable for any additional damage but not that occasioned by pre-existing conditions that will result in future debilitating effects: Athey v. Leonati at ¶ 35.
On the other hand if the plaintiff merely has a thin skull, and the damage suffered is disproportionate to the injuries inflicted, the defendant is nevertheless liable for all of the sequella occasioned by his or her wrongful act: Athey v. Leonati.
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