Alberta Law Review Online Supplement

Comment on Mustapha v. Culligan of Canada

Professor Lewis Klar (Faculty of Law, University of Alberta)

That the Ontario Court of Appeal would dismiss Mr. Mustapha’s claim for his major depressive disorder triggered by seeing a dead fly floating in an unopened bottle of drinking water,[1] and reverse his damage award of over $340,000, was made fairly clear by the way Blair J.A articulated the “issue of tort law” raised by the appeal:

The Supreme Court of Canada Tackles Claims for Nervous Shock

Assistant Professor Russell Brown (Faculty of Law, University of Alberta)

It was to general surprise that the Supreme Court of Canada granted the plaintiff in Mustapha v. Culligan of Canada Ltd.[1] leave to appeal from the dismissal of his action at the Ontario Court of Appeal. The facts are notorious, even outside legal circles. The plaintiff, Waddah Mustapha, saw a dead fly in an unopened bottle of water supplied by the defendant, Culligan. Neither he nor anyone else consumed any of that water, although all members of his family had consumed the defendant’s water for the previous 15 years. Mr. Mustapha became obsessed about what he had seen and about the potential implications for his family’s health from having possibly consumed impure water in the past. He was diagnosed as suffering from a major depressive disorder, with associated phobia and anxiety, all triggered by seeing the dead fly.[2]