Photo: Cliff MacArthur/provincialcourt.bc.ca

A woman injured in a vehicle crash near Oliver has been awarded some damages, but far less than she had asked for, after the judge determined parts of her story were invented.

Parnjeet Kaur Bahniwal, 61, was an orchard worker at the time of the incident in January, 2018. She sued Kuldeep Johal, the driver of the vehicle, for $630,000, claiming he swerved off the road and hit a metal pole while she was in the passenger seat.

According to court records, Bahniwal claimed the accident left her with "significant and permanent physical and psychological issues affecting all aspects of her life, to the point that she is barely functional."

While the defendant Johal and owner of the car Devinder Johal, both named in the suit, accepted Bahniwal suffered injuries to her neck and shoulder, they took issue with the extent of her claims, calling them grossly exaggerated.

Justice Gary Weatherill agreed after a trial in Kelowna this January.

In his decision, issued Feb. 19, Weatherill called Bahniwal's testimony during the trial inconsistent and unconvincing, and her memory selective in favour of details that supported her claims.

"Her evidence on direct was mostly vague and general. She frequently responded to questions posed to her on cross-examination by saying she did not remember," Weatherill wrote.

He pointed to evidence Bahniwal returned to work at the orchard in 2019 and 2020, and that her only witnesses in support of her claims were family members that he deemed to have "obvious bias and lack of objectivity," rendering their evidence suspect.

"In sum, I conclude that the plaintiff is able to perform most, if not all, of her previous work duties, but perhaps less efficiently, experiencing some pain and requiring more breaks," Weatherill wrote, deciding to award her $92,151 for her pain and suffering — a little under 15 per cent of what she had asked for in her suit.