Ontario Appeals Court upholds large non-economic loss award decision for young children who lost their mother

Ontario's top court has upheld a jury award of more than 100-thousand dollars to each of two young children for the loss of their mother in a car crash.

The Appeal Court says the amounts may have been high but were still reasonable.

The case involved the death of 30-year-old Michelle Vokes, who was killed when her minivan was demolished by a car driven by Randy Palmer six years ago in Owen Sound, Ontario.

Palmer was driving as fast as 120 kilometres an hour in a 50 zone when he slammed into Vokes.

The awards of $135,000 to the then-three-year-old daughter and $1117,000 to the then-five-year-old daughter $117,000 for the loss of care, guidance and companionship of their mother set new benchmarks. The previous high award to a child who lost a parent in Ontario, $65,000, was awarded in 2011.

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