What is the legal test for damages for psychological damage arising from a breach of contract?

Alberta, Canada


The following excerpt is from Bigelow v. T.C. Mobile Vessels Ltd., 2011 ABPC 93 (CanLII):

The Court, in so doing, returned to the principle articulated in Hadley v. Baxdendale (1854), 9 Ex.341, 156 E.R.145, which noted that damages are recoverable for contractual breach if the damages are “such as may fairly and reasonably be considered either arising naturally from such breach of contract itself, or such as may reasonably be supposed to have been in the contemplation of both parties” (page 151). Since a contract of employment is subject to termination by providing reasonable notice, there would not ordinarily be contemplation of psychological damage resulting from the dismissal itself, since the dismissal is a clear legal right.

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