{"id":24913,"date":"2017-03-22T11:51:29","date_gmt":"2017-03-22T15:51:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/?p=24913"},"modified":"2017-09-25T11:33:31","modified_gmt":"2017-09-25T15:33:31","slug":"church-successfully-defends-personal-injury-lawsuit-from-volunteer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cccc.org\/news_blogs\/legal\/2017\/03\/22\/church-successfully-defends-personal-injury-lawsuit-from-volunteer\/","title":{"rendered":"Church Successfully Defends Personal Injury Lawsuit from Volunteer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Authored by Philip A.S. Milley, Associate Director, Legal Affairs<\/em><\/p>\n

All churches at some point require renovations and general maintenance. Many churches wishing to spruce up their premises or cover up tired otherwise outdated paint colours enlist volunteer congregants to do the work. Congregants are generally eager to lend a hand to get the work done so the charity’s money doesn’t have to be spent on labour.<\/p>\n

However, little thought is generally given to the likelihood of injury or the resulting difficulties a congregation may face. Unfortunately, injuries can and do happen, which is precisely\u00a0what happened in the recent Ontario Superior Court of Justice case Baltadijian v The Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation for the Diocese of Alexandria<\/em>, 2017 ONSC 61<\/a>. In this case, the defendant church (the “Church”) sought volunteers to paint the interior walls of the church. The painting involved the use of ladders. The plaintiff, Hrant Baltadjian, volunteered to paint.<\/p>\n

Mr. Baltadjian fell from an eight-foot ladder, suffering a head injury, which resulted in him suffering\u00a0a coma for a period of 25 days. He was not wearing a safety hat, safety shoes, or fall arrest equipment. Unsurprisingly, Mr. Baltadjian had no recollection of the fall, and there were no witnesses to the incident.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, the judge granted the motion for summary judgment, which dismissed Mr. Baltadjian’s case on the basis that he failed to establish that the Church was negligent or that it had breached its obligations under the Occupational Health and Safety Act<\/em>. A significant factor leading to this conclusion was that Mr. Baltadjian fell while he voluntarily attempted to install a twenty-four-inch piece of quarter round at the ceiling. This activity was not requested by the Church and, in fact, was discouraged by a supervisor that wanted the volunteers to focus on painting. Mr. Baltadjian\u00a0insisted and voluntarily continued with the repair.<\/p>\n

In coming to the conclusion to dismiss the claim, the judge considered the following factors relevant to dismissing the action:<\/p>\n