Precedent setting DV case

S

Stillbreathing

New member
Came across a fascinating case in Brampton Ontario that was in the news.

Ahluwalia vs Ahluwalia 2022/02/28
Court file: FS-16-87188

Paragraph 112:
The judge wrote
“The mother is entitled to $150,000.00 in damages in relation to the family violence she experienced during the marriage”.

I believe the mother was a self rep who brought a tort claim for damages during her divorce proceedings which the justice Mandhane J allowed.

I’m not at my home computer so can’t post a Canlii link to this case. Somebody else might want to post the link.
 
Yes. Finally abuse is being looked at by the Family Law courts. This case(though it may still be appealed) helps me greatly.
 
Here is a bit from the case:
The next physical assault occurred on a November 2008 evening in Brampton. After coming home intoxicated, the Father accused the Mother of flirting with their mutual male friend who had been over earlier that day to help fix a computer. After hurling verbal accusations, the Father slapped the Mother, grabbed her by the neck, pulled her hair bun, and strangled her, stating he would “teach her a lesson” and questioning, “Will you do it again? Will you do it again?” The abuse ended when the Mother struggled free and ran to the kitchen, gasping for air and in need of water. The Father eventually passed out.
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that was a sample.

Huh? As far as I know abuse has always been looked at by the Family Law Courts, there are plenty of posts about domestic violence charges, stalking etc being brought in. What are you referring to?

I thought you were all ready to settle and get this done and over with but with all those posts looking for people to support you I doubted.


There is all sorts of abuse, basically gaslighting / lying is also a form of violence under Family Law. Threatening to kill pets etc or destroy someone's finances too. those are the type of things not looked at so intently until the last couple of years. The stuff that that guy did has always been looked down upon. Anyone care to expand?
 
There was a newspaper article last week that explained the significance of this case in more detail. The mother basically brought a civil suit against the father for damages incurred from his abuse in addition to the regular application for divorce which until this case, was unheard of. Judges in family court are supposed to look at abuse when determining the best interests of the child and perhaps the victims ability to become self sufficient financially when determining spousal support. This award for damages has nothing to do with the usual family law financial distribution of assets, cs or ss. This award is in addition to any equalization payment as a separate award, which has never been ordered before as a part of divorce proceedings. That’s what makes it so unique. Plus, of all things, it was a self represented litigant who accomplished this! Unbelievable! A real David and Goliath story. It opens the door for other domestic violence victims to apply for similar awards in family court !

The article appeared in the Toronto star April 7, 2022 and states the husband is appealing the ruling. It will be interesting to see what the appeals court has to say!

Somebody may want to link the article to this thread as it explains the significance of this “landmark” ruling in more detail.
 
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This is what I meant - they’re awarding damages now within the family law courts.

False allegations make me furious - it makes the path that true victims of DV much harder. I actually waited and suffered extra abuse so that I could gather evidence to prove what was happening. There is no discussion about what happened or didn’t happen in my case - it’s on CCTV.
 
Stillbreathing said:
There was a newspaper article last week that explained the significance of this case in more detail. The mother basically brought a civil suit against the father for damages incurred from his abuse in addition to the regular application for divorce which until this case, was unheard of. Judges in family court are supposed to look at abuse when determining the best interests of the child and perhaps the victims ability to become self sufficient financially when determining spousal support. This award for damages has nothing to do with the usual family law financial distribution of assets, cs or ss. This award is in addition to any equalization payment as a separate award, which has never been ordered before as a part of divorce proceedings. That’s what makes it so unique. Plus, of all things, it was a self represented litigant who accomplished this! Unbelievable! A real David and Goliath story. It opens the door for other domestic violence victims to apply for similar awards in family court !

The article appeared in the Toronto star April 7, 2022 and states the husband is appealing the ruling. It will be interesting to see what the appeals court has to say!

Somebody may want to link the article to this thread as it explains the significance of this “landmark” ruling in more detail.
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I'm going to look for the article now.

This is amazing. SERIOUSLY AMAZING.

When I left- I started putting together a small claims case against my ex for the absolute hell he put me through with the abuse. I had real damages- I took a massive paycut to move to be near my family for protection (not only for childcare)- but until I moved to another job- I moved back in with my parents (on the advice of the detective on my matter)- and spent well into $800+ a month on 407 fees. Also- I was pissed. I was so mad over the things he did. And while people have sued for abuse- it's about where you spend your resources. Often you're in the family court process- and it makes more sense to save your money and energy to fight for your kid- and pay for a therapist.

But this? This will ensure access to justice for victims of IPV.
 
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Brampton33 said:
In the same conversation, there should be harsh penalties for false allegation of abuse in Family Court....where one parent alleges it to gain tactical advantage. If allegations are false, dismissed or discredited, such parent should lose custody altogether.
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There are those cases, they've been posted here from time to time.

And I don't think this should be in the same breath. At all. What is talked about in this ruling is damages for substantiated intimate partner violence. Separate and apart from impacts to custody.
 
Can we actually have this thread be free of discussion of false allegations? I get it - there are terrible people who suddenly come up with false allegations in the midst of divorce.

I suffered in complete silence for years. Nobody knew what I was dealing with behind closed doors. Not even my best friend. It’s only a year ago that I finally shared with one friend. And I still didn’t tell her everything.

But I suffered continual abuse until I was able to get hard evidence because I knew there would be an accusation that I was making it up(and shock… there was). Getting it on video is the smartest thing I’ve ever done. And getting that evidence was necessary due to the reality that people who make false allegations have made this path so much harder for those who have suffered real dv/ipv.

Can this section of the page be free of false allegation discussions? Can that go somewhere else?
 
There have been other torts inside of Family Law cases. For those asking about the opposite a member of this forum brought a tort for libel/slander and won an award for false allegations to CAS. False allegations to CAS was the grounds. That case was groundbreaking as that parent had to get special orders for record releases from CAS. The "friend" who called in the false allegation and the other parent had to pay big bucks for their conduct.
 
Here’s another one: https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/2022/2022scc22/2022scc22.html.

There is a lot to unpack in this case but the main point is the judge felt it was in the children’s best interest to move with their mother away from their habitual residence as it was uninhabitable and the father was abusive.

It sounds like the court held the trial judge’s decision but the father appealed on the grounds he had money to fix the residence from his parents. The SC decision outlined that this information should have been provided in the original trial and not on appeal and the appeals court was wrong in over turning the original decision.
 
Tayken said:
There have been other torts inside of Family Law cases. For those asking about the opposite a member of this forum brought a tort for libel/slander and won an award for false allegations to CAS. False allegations to CAS was the grounds. That case was groundbreaking as that parent had to get special orders for record releases from CAS. The "friend" who called in the false allegation and the other parent had to pay big bucks for their conduct.
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Good for them. A rare case and I am not that smart.
My lawyer said "There is nothing I can do about that" but it wasn't as bad as what I remember that members case was like. I got out of it because their wasn't a shred of evidence but it was horrible.
In my dreams I have enough money for a team a lawyers to hold those that were untruthful accountable.
I was very disheartened when someone in the system told me that Family court perjury really isn't perjury and from what I am seen it is true.
 
Thanks Rockscan. Great find. It’s so heartening that this case and the one I originally posted about have come to light. It really does show that judges are finally becoming educated about the consequences of verified domestic violence during divorce proceedings. I have been searching for this type of case since my litigation started 10 years ago. It gives survivors of domestic violence at least some hope that all is not lost when they enter family court. These rulings are long overdue.
 
Stillbreathing said:
Thanks Rockscan. Great find. It’s so heartening that this case and the one I originally posted about have come to light. It really does show that judges are finally becoming educated about the consequences of verified domestic violence during divorce proceedings. I have been searching for this type of case since my litigation started 10 years ago. It gives survivors of domestic violence at least some hope that all is not lost when they enter family court. These rulings are long overdue.
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I saw the recap in the Globe and Mail then looked for the case. The article noted it was the first to use the new divorce act changes. Plus it considered best interests of the children over maximum contact. There was some other garbage the ex husband had done too so he had no one to blame.
 
Stillbreathing said:
Thanks Rockscan. Great find. It’s so heartening that this case and the one I originally posted about have come to light. It really does show that judges are finally becoming educated about the consequences of verified domestic violence during divorce proceedings. I have been searching for this type of case since my litigation started 10 years ago. It gives survivors of domestic violence at least some hope that all is not lost when they enter family court. These rulings are long overdue.
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finally?
This forum is awash with people saying judges removed access (overrode maximum contact) due to domestic violence. It is a go to accusation because it has a long history of working.

This case doesn't sound that unusual, the person ruled against was a piece of work. I fail to see the "halleluiah finally" unless we are talking about the cash payout and I dont know that that is unique.
 
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One of the things I think is outstanding about this case is that not only is this a landmark ruling which will no doubt be used as reference case law in upcoming litigation but it was a self-rep litigant who accomplished this amazing feat! Absolutely inspirational!
 
This is a domestic violence thread not an abuse of court process thread.

You have no idea about what people on here have suffered. “very surprising if any of it could be used by anyone here” - you have no idea what you’re talking about. Just because we don’t want to share details here doesn’t mean we haven’t suffered horrendous crimes as victims.

Abuse is not abuse. Being raped and beaten is far worse than having to deal with a crazy ex who is falsely accusing you of stuff.
 
Pretty much. The financial damage caused by my abuse is substantial. I'm not even talking about the emotional toll and the years of therapy I've gone through to deal with the PTS, and not let it affect my job so I can continue to work in a high-stress/high-demand field. What I shared on this forum is a fraction of what was done.

I was going to come in here to provide my opinion. (is the nice way of saying it).

But now I'm just going to co-sign the OP on this.

Shut up about the false accusations. That is not what this thread is about. It's about the fact that there is a ground breaking case which allows the family court process to award damages in a novel way through tort law; that within the marriage- a grievous wrong was committed by one party against another which resulted in damages; and almost more importantly- there is a huge ruling on the punitive damages that can be ordered. I do think this ruling will be challenged and scoped.

That is not to say that the false accusations don't produce their own trauma. I get it- they do. But what is being discussed here is intimate partner violence in the context of a marriage.
 
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pinkHouses said:
This case doesn't sound that unusual, the person ruled against was a piece of work. I fail to see the "halleluiah finally" unless we are talking about the cash payout and I dont know that that is unique.
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It is very unique in the context of family law. To get this type of award- especially the punitive award- you would have to go through a civil case. And seeing as it is most often women who are the victims, with little or no ability to fund both their family case AND their civil case against their former partners- having the ability for family judges to award damages is MAJOR.

Intimate partner violence- which happens in every context, e.g. committed against the husband in a cisgender marriage; same sex unions, etc- all of them are important and as a society we need to start doing more to recognize this issue and the impact on family court proceedings.
 
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