A Canadian man won't collect the more than $345,000 he won in an Ontario courtroom after claiming that a dead fly in an unopened water bottle made him depressed, anxious and phobic, according to an Associated Press story.
The Supreme Court of Canada agreed in a 9-0 judgment that Martin Mustapha psychological harm, but his reaction was so "unusual or extreme" that bottling company Culligan of Canada Ltd., should not have to pay compensation.
Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin said the legal test for damages is whether a person of "ordinary fortitude" would suffer psychological harm. In Mustapha's case, she concluded, the reaction was so unique that Culligan could not reasonably have foreseen the consequences and should not be held liable.