René Gauthier. Photo Facebook
One of the two co-founders of Victoria’s Sitka has been awarded almost $1 million in damages as a result of a motorcycle crash in 2013.
René Gauthier, was on his motorcycle, headed west on Bay Street in Victoria about 10:30 p.m. on June 3, 2013, when he was struck by an eastbound car that turned left in front of him onto Douglas Street.
The left front corner of the vehicle struck Gauthier head-on, throwing him from his motorcycle. Both the car and the motorcycle were written off.
Gauthier, who maintained he suffered physical injuries to his knees and back as well as a mild traumatic brain injury that left him “cognitively impaired in subtle ways,” sought damages of between $1.8 million and $2.9 million for pain and suffering, special damages, cost of future care, loss of past earning capacity and loss of future earning capacity.
He filed suit in B.C. Supreme Court, naming Marie Nicole Dubois and Jean-Phillipe Bouchard as defendants.
The defendants, while admitting liability for the collision and acknowledging most of the physical injuries, disputed the claim that Gauthier suffered a brain injury. If he did suffer such an injury, it did not have any impact on his past or future earning capacity, Dubois and Bouchard argued.
A judgment by B.C. Supreme Court Judge Warren Milman concluded that Gauthier “probably did sustain a mild traumatic brain injury after the accident.”
Milman awarded Gauthier: $145,000 in general damages; $141,750 in damages for past loss of earning capacity; $690,200 in damages for future loss of earning capacity; $697.75 in special damages; and $12,109.64 for the cost of future care.
Sitka is a surfboard, clothing and lifestyle brand.
