What is the test for making a tortfeasor pay for a plaintiff’s pre-existing mental illness?
British Columbia, Canada
The following excerpt is from Jaehrlich v Kuechler, 2019 BCSC 1126 (CanLII):
The most basic principle of tort law is that the plaintiff must be placed in the position he or she would have been if not for the defendant’s negligence, no better or worse. Tortfeasors must take their victims as they find them, even if the plaintiff’s injuries are more severe than they would be for a normal person. However, the defendant need not compensate the plaintiff for any debilitating effects of a pre-existing condition which the plaintiff would have experienced anyway: Athey v. Leonati at paras. 32-35.
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