The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia is appealing a B.C. Supreme Court Justice's decision to award $1.6 million to a former Prince George man who continues to suffer psychological fallout from a fatal head-on collision.
The insurer filed the appeal on Jan. 29, the last day of the 30-day appeal period following the Dec. 31 decision, David Wallin, the lawyer representing Alan Whitney Kempton, said in an email.
Kempton was behind the wheel of a tractor-trailer on the morning of Aug. 15, 2015 when a car driven by a 19-year-old local man swerved into his lane while traveling along Ness Lake Road. Despite Kempton hitting the brakes, they collided and the man was killed instantly.
Kempton escaped serious physical injury but, according Justice David Crerar, he has been unable to shake off the memory of that day and suffers from severe post-traumatic stress disorder.
Wallin said ICBC has not yet stated why the decision is being appealed and accused the Crown corporation of deploying "enormous legal resources" to deny his client a just award while also putting the blame on trial lawyers for its financial troubles.
He said the step is particularly frustrating because, during the trial, ICBC failed to call any witnesses to rebut the case Wallin had put before the court.
"The current level of unnecessary and aggressive 'legal wrangling' by ICBC ultimately impacts on injured motorists most acutely but also impacts all of us that have purchased the mandatory Autoplan insurance coverage with ICBC in this province," Wallin said.
Noting a reading disorder limited Kempton's education to a Grade 6 level, Crerar outlined a lifelong struggle for Kempton to overcome adversity and appeared to have finally landed his "dream job" when he began hauling chips just a few weeks before the crash. Kempton and his wife have since moved to Nova Scotia where he grew up, and where they now live in a remote area and effectively in a semi-hermit state.
