[wahyinghung]

A Vancouver cop has been awarded $100,000 for injuries he suffered in a high-speed collision that killed two people more than five years ago.

Details of the out-of-court settlement for Sandeep Singh Buttar were revealed in a B.C. Supreme Court judgment released Wednesday that dealt with the issue of legal costs.

Const. Buttar, 30 at the time, was a passenger in a police vehicle being driven at high speed by his partner, Const. Steve Vandenberg, when it smashed into a vehicle being driven by Benito Di Spirito near Boundary and East 22nd Avenue in Vancouver in June 2003.

Di Spirito, 66, and his wife, Pasqualina Di Spirito, 65, were both killed. Buttar made various medical claims including a concussion, headaches and injuries to his neck, shoulder, wrist, knee and pelvic bone.

Vandenberg, a rookie cop, later pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention and was fined $1,500 but neither he nor the Vancouver police department could be named as a defendant in Buttar’s lawsuit because WCB legislation precluded such a move.

Instead Buttar sued the estate of the fatal victims, who in a statement of defence denied liability and claimed that Vandenberg was to blame.

In April last year, however, the defendants offered to settle for $100,000 plus legal costs, an offer that was accepted in November, just a week before trial.

Buttar applied to have his additional legal costs incurred between April and November last year paid for by the defendants but B.C. Supreme Court Justice Laura Gerow declined to make the order. The Di Spirito family also filed a lawsuit in the case but it, too, was settled out-of-court, for an undisclosed amount.
http://www.theprovince.com/news/story.html?id=1228404

[cow20xx]

there's no fucking god... -_-

[bsoni]

some people.

[shenmecar]

thats a lot of donuts.

[BlitzBlitz]

^don't forget the coffee

[JHuJHu]

^double double

[saucywoman]

okay since I haven't slept very much in the past three days I want to make sure I am understanding that correctly.

passenger cop is injured because the driver (another cop) is at fault. HOWEVER; injured cop isn't allowed to sue the driver cop or his employer and therefore sues the estate of innocent victims that the at fault cop driver crashed into (and WINS).
Am I understanding that correct?

[Mugen EvOlutioN]

WTF he gets $100,000? yet friends among me as well as ppl i heard are fucking hard as hell getting money out of fucking ICBC

my friend got hit crossing the street, rolled couple times suffered bruises and shit, car was just making a left. fucking ICBC offered her bullshit $1g

fuck i'd pay someone $1g just to watch them get hit and roll couple times


wat the fuck is the point buying insurance with liability for $3 million dollar for when it seems u cant even get shit when u are the victim..


wat the fuck

[blackjack101]

there's no fucking god... -_-

+1 fucked up world eh

[Meowjin]

WTF he gets $100,000? yet friends among me as well as ppl i heard are fucking hard as hell getting money out of fucking ICBC

my friend got hit crossing the street, rolled couple times suffered bruises and shit, car was just making a left. fucking ICBC offered her bullshit $1g

fuck i'd pay someone $1g just to watch them get hit and roll couple times


wat the fuck is the point buying insurance with liability for $3 million dollar for when it seems u cant even get shit when u are the victim..


wat the fuck

hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer hire a lawyer

[boogabooga]

I hope the cops go to hell.

[JHatta]

damn. it's good to be a cop. you get to walk around with a gun, drive like a fucking 16 year old, give tickets whenever (and to whoever) you feel like, and feel like a big man.

we pay them to fuck with us.





we pay them. to fuck with us.
this makes sense, how?

[johny]

the victums probably got a couple mill from the VPD. so giving up 100k to the inocent passenger probably isn't a big deal. still freaking weird though.

[MelonBoy]

WTF he gets $100,000? yet friends among me as well as ppl i heard are fucking hard as hell getting money out of fucking ICBC

my friend got hit crossing the street, rolled couple times suffered bruises and shit, car was just making a left. fucking ICBC offered her bullshit $1g

fuck i'd pay someone $1g just to watch them get hit and roll couple times


wat the fuck is the point buying insurance with liability for $3 million dollar for when it seems u cant even get shit when u are the victim..


wat the fuck


lol.. tell you friend to get a better lawyer.. XD

[dat_steve]

wtfwtfwtfwtfwtf.

[marc0lishuz]

You kill 2 people and only pay a $1,500 fine?

That's more fukt up than the $100,000 settlement.

[!LittleDragon]

errr... he wasn't driving? So you guys are saying, if your injured while your friend was at the wheel, you wouldn't seek some kinda compensation?

[Vansterdam]

Instead Buttar sued the estate of the fatal victims, who in a statement of defence denied liability and claimed that Vandenberg was to blame.

wow...

[marc0lishuz]

errr... he wasn't driving? So you guys are saying, if your injured while your friend was at the wheel, you wouldn't seek some kinda compensation?

I would sue the driver, not the people that got killed in the other car.

[!LittleDragon]

I would sue the driver, not the people that got killed in the other car.

But he couldn't because of WCB... so who do you sue? The other parties involved. You're welcome to sue anyone you want, how it ever made it this far and why the defendants caved is beyond me..

[2damaxmr2]

our legal system are corrupted as fuck.

[Nightwalker]

Sucks for that cop. He was a passenger, then everyone else in the crash dies, and he has no way to pay his medical bills.

"The Di Spirito family also filed a lawsuit in the case but it, too, was settled out-of-court, for an undisclosed amount."

I guess the family was all covered as they were not at fault. Maybe they helped the passenger officer out in the end.

[hotjoint]

thats insane

[$_$]

so thats how canadian justice system rolls


noted for future reference...
note to self: dont get hit by police car or am gonna end up getting royally fucked up the ass even if it wasnt my fault. oh yeh, did i mention i was dead already?

[EM2]

wow

[Blinky]

WTF he gets $100,000? yet friends among me as well as ppl i heard are fucking hard as hell getting money out of fucking ICBC

my friend got hit crossing the street, rolled couple times suffered bruises and shit, car was just making a left. fucking ICBC offered her bullshit $1g

fuck i'd pay someone $1g just to watch them get hit and roll couple times


wat the fuck is the point buying insurance with liability for $3 million dollar for when it seems u cant even get shit when u are the victim..


wat the fuck

:rolleyes:

A cookie if you can find ANY reference to ICBC in the referenced article.

[Presto]

The cop, technically, did not win the case. It was settled out of court.

When the cop sues the estate, does ICBC pick that up, or some other insurance company?

[!LittleDragon]

Perhaps a deal was struck... Since the cop can't sue his partner, him and the estate came up with a plan where the estate sued the driver and the injured cop would get a cut? That's a lot of red tape but I think everyone's happy...

[impactX]

^ Ditto.

[SkinnyPupp]

I don't understand what everyone is bitching about... But I am not that familiar with the story. As far as I can tell, he was the passenger in an accident, received injuries due to a negligent driver, and was compensated for those injuries. Does being a cop make it any different?

[unidentified]

I don't understand what everyone is bitching about... But I am not that familiar with the story. As far as I can tell, he was the passenger in an accident, received injuries due to a negligent driver, and was compensated for those injuries. Does being a cop make it any different?

I think the problem everybody is having with this situation is that the idiot cop who caused the accident could not be held responsible for the other cop's injuries, so the injured cop sued the estate of the DEAD VICTIMS from the crash. How is it that he's able to sue those who were obviously not all fault for his injuries?

[iEatClams]

You kill 2 people and only pay a $1,500 fine?

That's more fukt up than the $100,000 settlement.

+ 1


if a cop commits a major crime - he'll get suspension . . . . with pay.

[Ax2-Y]

like a few others on here who arent on the "i hate the police, so lets bash them" band wagon, i feel that what he did wasnt that bad. He was injured and was not able to be compensated for his injuries, so he sued the only people he could. The undisclosed amount is probably in the millions. It isnt like the money being awarded to the police officer is coming from the peoples actual estate.

[MarkyMark]

This sounds like something that would happen in the US lol, but then he would have gotten like 2 million.

On another note, how does a cop admit to driving recklessly, and then the parties that they killed end up having to pay? Either they were somehow at fault as well or some shit ain't right

[iwantaskyline]

He is the douche bag of the day for me.

[Five-Oh]

I think this article is leaving out some important details on what exactly happened. First off, it says WCB legislation prevented him from suing the driver or the police force. Problem with that is the police aren't even covered under WCB as one of the main rules of WCB is all employees have the right to refuse unsafe work. As police work is inherently unsafe, we are not allowed to refuse unsafe work, so WCB will not cover us. That mistake in the article leads me to believe there is far more to this story than what the article says.

I can't even begin to comprehend how you could sue an innocent victim and be successful. There is definitely more to this story.

[asian_XL]

the compensation is reasonable or even bit less for this kinda claim. 1.5 years of his
salary is considered nothing to ICBC, to be honest.

My buddy's gf was hit by a car on kingsway when crossing the road...she suffers bad
back pain, headache and weak knee over the past 3 years. So far ICBC has paid her
around 75,000 (her previous salary was around $10/hr)

For those who think it's unreasonable, think about if this ever happens to you, you would
want the same amount or more.

[freakshow]

The issue isn't the amount, the issue is that it came from the victim's family..

[yson_3]

hold the province accountable for a poorly written article.

[Mugen EvOlutioN]

the compensation is reasonable or even bit less for this kinda claim. 1.5 years of his
salary is considered nothing to ICBC, to be honest.

My buddy's gf was hit by a car on kingsway when crossing the road...she suffers bad
back pain, headache and weak knee over the past 3 years. So far ICBC has paid her
around 75,000 (her previous salary was around $10/hr)

For those who think it's unreasonable, think about if this ever happens to you, you would
want the same amount or more.



wow fuck this shit, we should all lower our insurance to $1 mill. cuz no motherfucker is getting $3 mill out of these scum bags from ICBC

[Ax2-Y]

The issue isn't the amount, the issue is that it came from the victim's family..

technically nothing has come from the victim's family. the police officers chunk would come out before the estate is divided :)

[StylinRed]

technically nothing has come from the victim's family. the police officers chunk would come out before the estate is divided :)

and where does that estate go smarty pants... -_-

also lets not forgot its 100k + his legal fees

fuckin despicable police these days, murder, robbery, beatings... feels like im in a communist state

[falcon]

I can't believe the ignorance and idiocy in this thread.

[ericthehalfbee]

Reading comprehension?

The officer wasn't allowed to sue the other driver or the police force because he was an employee performing his job.

This doesn't mean that victims can't sue the police if something goes wrong. In fact, lawsuits against police agencies do occur and people get awarded large amounts of money.

In this case, there was a settlement between the police and the family, which shows that they did file lawsuit and it was settled out of court. The settlement was likely pretty hefty, since they dropped the case.



It does seem strange that the officer sued the victims family, but what can you do when you're not covered? He's also a victim, not only of the accident in which he was a passenger, but also because of stupid rules that prevent him from getting any sort of compensation for his injuries.

I say good on him for bringing this to light (the WCB rules that officers are forced to work under).



BTW, who does the Vancouver Police use for insurance? I thought it was their own system or something, and that they didn't use ICBC. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but this would mean you couldn't sue ICBC since they aren't the insurance provider.

[crumbum]

I think this is what happened: technically, the police officer was not allowed by law to sue the police, however the police want to help him out with hospital costs etc. from the injury. So the police work out a deal with the victim's family where they can settle out of court for an amount greater than $100,000. Basically the police dont' have a legal way to give the officer money directly, so they give it to him by have him sue the family, while settling an undisclosed amount out of court with them.

my thoughts anyway

[jaguar604]

WCB is a fucking scam.

[Wykydtron]

This isn't a case of 'the Canadian Legal System'. He was sueing, so it would have been a civil matter.