Appeal Court Affirms No Claim for Emotional Harm Arising from Birth of Unwanted Child
An unusual case arising from a man’s lawsuit over a baby he didn’t want has now been heard by the Ontario Court of Appeal.
As I reported here, the facts involved a man and woman who had a brief romantic fling in 2014, lasting less than two months. After going on a few dates, they had unprotected sex on several occasions. Although it was not strictly proven before the court, the man recalled his understanding, from various things the woman said, that she was taking birth control pills and did not intend to conceive a child.
But a few weeks after their short relationship ended, the man, in his early 40s, found out that the woman, in her early 30s, was pregnant. She went on to give birth, at which time it was confirmed that the man was the father.
The man, who was a budding doctor, sued the woman in civil court for over $4 million, claiming her fraudulent misrepresentation had deprived him of the choice of when and with whom to share the responsibility of parenthood. The court framed his cause of action in these words:
Although it was not presented in this way, the claim can be viewed as a tort claim for involuntary parenthood made by one parent against the other. It is clear that the alleged damages do not relate to a physical or recognized psychiatric illness. In essence, the damages consist of the [man’s] emotional upset, broken dreams, possible disruption to his lifestyle and career, and a potential reduction in future earnings, all of which are said to flow from the birth of a child he did not want. Although the claim is not for the direct costs associated with raising the child, all of the damages claimed by the [man] are the result of consequences flowing from the unwanted birth of a child, albeit unwanted only by the father.
(And it’s important to note that the man was suing for emotional harm of the non-pathological variety only; he was not suing for physical harm or for monetary damages, such as for any undesired child support obligations he may have. On that latter point, a separate Family Law suit, disputing his obligation to pay child support based on the woman’s alleged fraud and deceit, was also underway and would be heard separately).
The lower court, in striking out the man’s claim, held that his allegations disclosed no reasonable, legally-recognized cause of action, because a claim for fraudulent misrepresentation – which is a tort in Canadian law – was aimed at compensating the man for any financial damages, not emotional ones. In other words, the man was trying to claim for the types of damages that were simply not actionable through a fraud claim.
In its recent decision, the Ontario Court of Appeal agreed, adding that the woman’s alleged lie as to her being on birth control – even if it was proved that she told it – was not enough to form the basis of the man’s claim for emotional injury. Plus, any harm the man suffered was not tantamount to a “personal injury” in the traditional legal sense.
Do you think the original decision – now affirmed on appeal – was correctly decided? What are your thoughts?
For the full text of the decision, see:
PP v DD, 2017 ONCA 180 (CanLII)