Ruling says occupier installed steps in a way that didn’t secure them to deck
The Ontario Superior Court has found that a plaintiff proved her claim for total damages of $280,000 in connection with a personal injury she sustained while an invited guest of a tenant residing at the defendant’s premises.
In Crews v. Tres Hermanas Inc., 2026 ONSC 2870, the plaintiff was a resident of the Town of Tottenham in Ontario.
On June 8, 2019, the day the plaintiff was invited over, she was walking down the steps of a newly installed deck while on her way out of the premises. She fell on the ground to the right of the steps after one step that was not secured to the deck flipped upward.
The plaintiff claimed that her right wrist sustained injury when it took the brunt of the fall. The tenant who invited her over immediately drove her to an Alliston hospital.
The plaintiff brought a statement of claim for personal injury against the defendant property owner. Citing Ontario’s Occupiers’ Liability Act, 1990, she alleged that the defendant breached its duty to ensure that the premises were reasonably safe for invitees.
The plaintiff claimed damages of $280,000, comprising:
Separately, the plaintiff sought $14,594.84 in Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) subrogation. She also requested her costs of the proceedings and prejudgment interest under Ontario’s Courts of Justice Act, 1990.
Last May 11, the plaintiff moved to strike the defendant corporation’s pleadings. Granting the motion, the court struck the defendant’s pleadings and jury notice.
Thus, the court noted the defendant in default under r. 19.02 of the Rules of Civil Procedure, RRO 1990, Reg 194, and deemed liability proven pursuant to the plaintiff’s statement of claim.
Of the $280,000 in damages awarded, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ordered:
The court awarded $14,594.84 for the separate OHIP subrogation claim. The court also ordered prejudgment interest of $24,269.86, plus postjudgment interest under the Courts of Justice Act.
The court ruled that the plaintiff was an invitee to the premises, not a trespasser. The court held that the defendant property owner owed a duty of care to the plaintiff as an occupier of the premises where she was allegedly injured on June 8, 2019.
Pursuant to the defendant’s statutory duty, the court decided that the defendant should take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure the plaintiff’s reasonable safety on its property and should proactively make its premises reasonably safe for those using them.
On a balance of probabilities, the court determined that the defendant failed to fulfill its duty of care to the plaintiff by installing the steps or permitting the installation of such steps
in a manner that failed to secure the steps to the deck.
The court concluded that the defendant created an entirely foreseeable risk that the steps would tilt in the way the plaintiff described, as well as a danger of injury to anybody using the steps.
The court found the defendant liable for damages arising from the plaintiff’s injury due to the defendant’s failure to meet its duty of care.
The court ruled that the plaintiff’s right wrist injury had a devastating effect both in the injury’s immediate aftermath and in the longer term, considering that she was right-handed.
The court held that the plaintiff would unlikely return to her degree of health and well-being prior to the injury, even with future physiotherapy, which might ameliorate the injury’s debilitating impacts.
Lastly, the court ordered the defendant to pay the plaintiff total costs of $67,725.62. The cost award comprised legal costs of $59,127.38, including harmonized sales tax, and disbursements of $8,598.24.
