A bizarre incident north of the border raises some interesting questions about the role of insurance in mentally affecting accidents.
Alissa Afonina was described by her teacher as a bright student in the top 2% of her class, until a car accident transformed her personality, resulting in a large award for her injuries.
Awarded more than $1.5 million in damages by a B.C. Supreme Court, for her brain injury from a car accident, Afonina turned into a very different girl who eventually ended up working as a dominatrix.
According to the
National Post story, Afonina showed no impulse control, could not carry through on tasks, became isolated and began to have outbursts and make inappropriate sexual comments.
Afonina was about to enter Grade 12 back in 2008, when she – along with her mother and brother – were passengers in a vehicle being driven by her mom’s former boyfriend, Peter Jansson.
While driving to Salmon Arm, B.C., the car ended up in the ditch, causing Afonina’s brain injury. The judge at the time concluded Jansson was driving too fast in the wet road conditions and was therefore negligent.
Afonina’s lawyers argued that her decision to work as a dominatrix showed a lack of correct thinking, and proof she had taken on unnecessary risk due to a loss of cognitive function from the moderate traumatic brain injury.
Justice Joel Grove noted in his decision that Afonina had not acted to minimize her risks by implementing an alarm system or safety measures in her work as a dominatrix, evidence of a diminished judgment on her part and a factor supporting a theory of frontal lobe damage.
Although the judge acknowledged that Afonina’s work as a dominatrix showed a capability to find and conduct work to earn a living, he concluded that the brain injury for Afonina led to her being unable to cope normally and generate enough money to make a living.
The young woman had no ability to work full-time and might only qualify for entry-level jobs a few hours a day, such as basic food services industry employment, said the judge, adding that without the injury, she’d have been capable of completing a college or university certificate of two years.
However, the judge did not accept her argument that she has no capacity to work, according to the
National Post.
Afonina’s damages award includes $825,000 for future capacity loss, $376,000 for cost of future care, $300,000 for pain and suffering and $23,000 for special damages.
Afonina made a claim for an inability to form “interdependent” relationships due to her isolation and sexual and general impulsivity — arguing that she was “damaged goods” — but the judge said those damages would be “too remote” and denied that category of damages, according to the
Post.
Her mother, Alla Afonina, suffered a mild traumatic brain injury from the accident and was awarded more than $943,000 in damages. A former employee of B.C. Housing, she got $400,000 for future capacity loss, $195,000 for pain and suffering, $158,000 for past wage loss, $131,000 for cost of future care and $59,000 for special damages.
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