A highly unusual civil lawsuit in Canada, which saw a nine-year-old boy sue an 11-year-old peer after a playtime scuffle left his finger nearly severed, has been dismissed by a judge.
A Playtime Dispute Turns Serious
The incident occurred on August 9, 2022, around 11am at a summer programme in Alberta, run by a non-governmental organisation that has since closed. Elijah Dominic Robinson, who was nine at the time and is now 13, was playing with Xavier Fellin, then aged 11, with a toy dinosaur described as roughly the size of a 500ml water bottle.
A disagreement over the toy escalated, and during the scuffle, Xavier allegedly used the dinosaur to 'strike at' Elijah. The blow caused what court documents described as a 'serious dislocation fracture' to Elijah's ring finger.
The Legal Battle and Its Outcome
In a judgment he called 'quite rare', Judge Brian Robert Hougestol of the Alberta Court of Justice in Grande Prairie detailed the case. He noted it raised complex legal questions about the capacity of minors, consent, and the voluntary assumption of risk.
Each boy had a litigation representative, as individuals under 18 cannot sue on their own in Canada. The suit sought C$10,000 in damages plus out-of-pocket expenses. However, Judge Hougestol dismissed the claim last Friday after a hearing last month.
The judge described the injury as severe, noting 'The finger was essentially severed at the bone but still attached' and required surgery to save it. Yet, no hospital records were produced as evidence, and Elijah could not provide detailed recollections of the years-old event.
Judge Rules Injury a 'Fluke' Accident
In his ruling, Judge Hougestol determined the incident was an 'unfortunate "fluke" injury that could not easily have been anticipated'. He stated he did not believe Xavier had intentionally assaulted Elijah, calling it 'a highly accidental fluke from children engaging in typical enough child activities'.
The judge also cleared Xavier's parents, who were co-defendants, finding they had not provided a dangerous weapon or encouraged violence. He noted that while offering help after the injury would have been courteous, there was no legal obligation to do so.
Fortunately, the judge concluded that Elijah's finger is now well-healed and causes him little to no ongoing difficulty, bringing an end to a rare legal chapter stemming from a childhood altercation.
