What is the test for a claim for punitive damages?
British Columbia, Canada
The following excerpt is from Elms v. Laurentian Bank of Canada, 2000 BCSC 796 (CanLII):
To support a claim for punitive damages, the plaintiff must show that the conduct of the defendant was harsh, vindictive, reprehensible or malicious, which are adjectives adopted by McIntyre J., writing for the majority in Vorvis v. Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, 1989 CanLII 93 (SCC), [1989] 1 S.C.R. 1085, to describe the conduct which will attract an award of punitive damages. At page 1108 he said: I do not suggest that I have exhausted the adjectives which could describe the conduct capable of characterizing a punitive award, but in any case where such an award is made the conduct must be extreme in its nature and such that by any reasonable standard it is deserving of full condemnation and punishment.
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