COURT DECISIONS
A SAMPLE OF OUR DIVERSE LEGAL EXPERIENCE
LECLAIR v. MACDONALD
Gillian Hnatiw convinced the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal to overturn a lower court decision striking out a claim for intentional infliction of mental distress. In its decision restoring our client’s action, the Court held that the motion judge failed to consider the high threshold required to dismiss a claim at the pleading stage. The Court also confirmed that complex issues of statutory interpretation should not be decided prematurely.
This decision was a win for all survivors of gender-based violence in Nova Scotia. The decision below adopted a very narrow reading of s. 11(a) the Limitation of Actions Act, the provision of Nova Scotia’s statute that eliminates limitation periods for survivors of sexual assault. If the motion judge’s decision had been allowed to stand, many causes of action that are commonly advanced alongside claims for sexual assault - including IIMD, negligence and breach of fiduciary duty - would be subject to a 2-year limitation period (even though they hinge on the plaintiff being ready to advance the assault claim itself). This would leave Nova Scotia with the most regressive limitations regime in the country. The statutory interpretation question will now be left to a future court to resolve with the benefit of a full evidentiary record.
JANE DOE v. JASON REDMOND
Gillian Hnatiw and Taylor Bain brought a successful motion for summary judgment on behalf of a client who was sexually assaulted by her intimate partner while incapacitated, the devastating consequences of which were later compounded by the defendant’s non-consensual distribution of a video recording of the assault. The Court granted the plaintiff summary judgment, awarding her +$250,000 in damages, together with prejudgment interest and substantial indemnity costs. In assessing damages, the Court expressly recognized her profound and lasting harm, including the loss of her sense of safety, autonomy, trust, and self‑worth, notwithstanding her pre‑existing mental health and substance‑use vulnerabilities.
MACDONALD v. THE CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY OF THE NIAGARA REGION
2025 ONSC 7110
This decision relates to flawed hair-follicle drug and alcohol testing conducted at the Motherisk Drug Testing Laboratory (“MDTL”) at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). Gillian Hnatiw, Leigh Clark, Taylor Bain & Kate Kehoe successfully defended a motion for summary judgment on behalf of a family who allege that MDTL’s unreliable and negligent testing led to false-positive results that were relied upon by a Children’s Aid Society, resulting in the temporary apprehension of their newborn, onerous supervision requirements, and long-lasting emotional and relational harm to the family. The Court dismissed the MDTL’s motion in its entirety, holding that there are genuine issues requiring a trial on each of the central defences advanced.
B.E. v. O.R.
2024 ONSC 6193
Gillian Hnatiw & Co. successfully represented a client in a lengthy civil sexual assault trial. The Judge found the client to be a credible witness, rejected the defendant’s version of events, and concluded that the defendant sexually assaulted the plaintiff, causing significant psychological, physical, and economic harm. The Court awarded the plaintiff over $680,000 in damages and dismissed the defendant’s counterclaim in its entirety.
HELSTON v. CADORETTE
2024 ONSC 1636
Gillian Hnatiw & Co. obtained partial summary judgment on behalf of a client who was sexually abused as a child by his hockey coach. The decision establishes the coach’s civil liability based on his prior criminal guilty pleas, which he was not permitted to dispute under the Evidence Act and the doctrine of abuse of process.
V.T. v. D.T.
Gillian Hnatiw & Co represented the plaintiffs in a successful motion for summary judgment relating to childhood sexual abuse. The decision is an important step forward in recognizing the inherent difficulties associated with litigating sexual assault and abuse cases and serves as a precedent for future costs awards that acknowledge a trauma-informed approach to assisting survivors may require plaintiff-side lawyers to invest more time in preparation.
Gillian Hnatiw acted as Commission Counsel for Nova Scotia’s Mass Casualty Commission. The Commission was an independent public inquiry created to examine the April 18-19, 2020 mass casualty in Nova Scotia and to provide meaningful recommendations to help protect Canadians in the future.
R. v. JARVIS
Gillian Hnatiw acted for the intervener, the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF), on an appeal concerning the criminal offense of voyeurism and the question of whether teenage girls have a reasonable expectation of privacy in respect of their bodies while attending high school.
DOUCET v. THE ROYAL WINNIPEG BALLET
Gillian Hnatiw represented the plaintiffs in this successful motion to certify a class action against the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School and a former teacher, Bruce Monk. Monk is alleged to have coerced numerous students at the venerable school into posing nude for him over almost three decades, and to subsequently selling the images on-line. The case has the potential to expand the law of image-based sexual abuse in Canada.
S.S. v. KANTOR
Gillian Hnatiw represented a psychiatrist in this successful appeal restoring the validity of a Community Treatment Order under the Mental Health Act. The Court of Appeal accepted Ms. Hnatiw’s arguments concerning the correct interpretation of the complex statutory scheme and clarified the process for issuing CTOs in Ontario.
MITCHELL v. BANIK
Gillian Hnatiw successfully represented a psychiatrist, Dr. Banik, in response to this appeal from a decision of the Consent and Capacity Board. Ms. Hnatiw convinced the court that Dr. Banik reasonably applied the proper legal test to the facts and succeeded in having his findings of incapacity affirmed.
BONELLO v. GORES LANDING MARINA (1986) LIMITED
A freak accident during a recreational game of tug-of-war resulted in the amputation of the plaintiff’s right hand. The owners of the marina convinced a lower court that there was no merit to the plaintiff’s claim against it and secured an order for summary judgment dismissing the plaintiff’s claim. Gillian Hnatiw argued the successful appeal from this order, which restored the plaintiff’s claim and pursuit for compensation.
RE COLE
Gillian Hnatiw acted for a group of physicians at a Coroner’s Inquest into the epilepsy related death of an inmate at Toronto East Detention Centre.
RE CARBY
Coroner’s Inquest into the police shooting death of mentally ill black man in Brampton, which delved into issues of racial profiling and unconscious bias. Gillian Hnatiw acted as counsel to a physician who provided psychiatric care to the deceased.
RE SAMPSON
Gillian Hnatiw acted for the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto in a Coroner’s inquest into the death of a young person that examined Ontario’s child welfare system.
BOWDEN INSTITUTION v. KHADR
Gillian Hnatiw acted as counsel to the intervener, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, in an appeal concerning the government decision to treat Mr. Khadr’s foreign sentence as an adult rather than a youth sentence and place him in a federal penitentiary. The appeal was dismissed by the Supreme Court in less than 30 minutes for reasons consistent with the position advanced by the CCLA.
RE SMITH
Gillian Hnatiw represented a group of physicians at a Coroner’s Inquest into the death of mentally ill 19-year-old in federal custody.
MILNE v. BETTS
Gillian Hnatiw represented the plaintiffs in this successful action for childhood sexual abuse against their maternal uncle. The court awarded the plaintiff damages for pain and suffering, economic loss, and past and future therapy, as well as punitive damages and legal costs on a substantial indemnity basis.
STEVENS v. CANADA (ATTORNEY GENERAL)
Gillian Hnatiw successfully represented a former Cabinet Minister in an action to set aside the report from a Public Inquiry. Mid-trial, she was also successful in resisting a motion to quash the summons served on the Federal Ethics Commissioner. Stevens is an important decision on the principles of procedural fairness and natural justice.
KHAN v. TULAKE
Gillian Hnatiw brought a successful application to stay civil proceedings before the Workplace Safety Insurance and Appeals Tribunal. Her novel arguments established a new type of statutory defense for medical residents.