Menjit Singh v Ong Lay Peng: Whiplash Injury, Damages Assessment, Loss of Earnings

In Menjit Singh s/o Hari Singh v Ong Lay Peng, before the High Court of Singapore on 2012-01-17, Mdm Ong Lay Peng appealed against the Assistant Registrar's decision regarding damages awarded to Mr. Menjit Singh for a whiplash injury sustained in a car accident. Mr. Singh claimed the injury prevented him from working as a teacher, seeking damages for loss of pre-trial and future earnings. The court, Tan Lee Meng J, found that Mr. Singh had exaggerated his symptoms and could have continued working as a teacher. Consequently, the court allowed the appeal and set aside the award for loss of pre-trial and future earnings.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

High Court

1.2 Outcome

Appeal Allowed

1.3 Case Type

Civil

1.4 Judgment Type

Grounds of Decision

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

Appeal against damages awarded for whiplash injury. Court found plaintiff exaggerated symptoms, could have continued teaching, and reversed award for lost earnings.

1.7 Decision Date

16 January 2012

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
Menjit Singh s/o Hari Singh	Respondent	Individual	Loss of pre-trial and future earnings award set aside	Lost	Chelva Rajah of Tan Rajah & Cheah Palaniappan Sundararaj of Straits Law Practice LLC Gloria Han of Straits Law Practice LLC
Ong Lay Peng	Appellant, Defendant	Individual	Appeal Allowed	Won	Vinodh Coomaraswamy of Shook Lin & Bok LLP Georgina Lum of Shook Lin & Bok LLP Victoria Ho of Shook Lin & Bok LLP Abdul Salim Ahmed Ibrahim of United Legal Alliance LLC

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Tan Lee Meng	Judge	Yes

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Chelva Rajah	Tan Rajah & Cheah
Palaniappan Sundararaj	Straits Law Practice LLC
Gloria Han	Straits Law Practice LLC
Vinodh Coomaraswamy	Shook Lin & Bok LLP
Georgina Lum	Shook Lin & Bok LLP
Victoria Ho	Shook Lin & Bok LLP
Abdul Salim Ahmed Ibrahim	United Legal Alliance LLC

4. Facts

Mr. Singh claimed whiplash injury after a minor car accident.
Mr. Singh claimed the injury prevented him from working as a teacher.
Medical Board found Mr. Singh unfit for service as a Senior Education Officer.
Mr. Singh was employed at Educare Cooperative Ltd after leaving MOE.
Video tapes showed Mr. Singh able to perform daily activities without apparent difficulty.
Dr. Li agreed that Mr. Singh had exaggerated his symptoms by 30%.
Mr. Singh had a similar accident in 2004 and reported head and neck pain.

5. Formal Citations

Menjit Singh s/o Hari Singh v Ong Lay Peng, Suit No 430 of 2008 (Registrar's Appeal No 318 of 2010), [2012] SGHC 11

6. Timeline

Date	Event
2006-11-11	Accident occurred in a Housing and Development Board car park
2007-07-19	Mr. Singh exhausted his medical leave
2007-08-23	Medical Board of the Ministry of Education met to determine Mr. Singh's fitness to work
2007-11-13	MOE informed Mr. Singh that the Medical Board found him unfit for further service
2007-12-12	Mr. Singh's last day of service with MOE
2008-03-10	Mr. Singh was employed as a zone manager at Educare Cooperative Ltd
2008-06-20	Mr. Singh commenced proceedings against Mdm Ong
2009-01-14	Parties agreed to have interlocutory judgment entered against Mdm Ong
2010-01-25	Damages were assessed by the AR
2010-02-18	Damages were assessed by the AR
2012-01-17	Judgment reserved

7. Legal Issues

Causation
- Outcome: The court found that the plaintiff had not proven that his loss of earnings was caused by the accident.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
  - Exaggeration of symptoms
  - Pre-existing condition
- Related Cases:
  - [2007] 3 SLR(R) 782
Assessment of Damages
- Outcome: The court set aside the award for loss of pre-trial and future earnings.
- Category: Procedural
- Sub-Issues:
  - Loss of earnings
  - Loss of earning capacity
- Related Cases:
  - [1973] 2 Lloyd's Rep 40
  - [2010] 3 SLR 587

8. Remedies Sought

Monetary Damages

9. Cause of Actions

Negligence

10. Practice Areas

Personal Injury Litigation

11. Industries

Education

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
Sunny Metal & Engineering Pte Ltd v Ng Khim Ming Eric	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2007] 3 SLR(R) 782	Singapore	Cited for the 'but for' test in determining causation in personal injury claims.
Fairley v John Thompson (Design and Contracting Division) Ltd	N/A	Yes	[1973] 2 Lloyd's Rep 40	N/A	Cited for the principle that compensation for loss of future earnings is awarded for real assessable loss proved by evidence, while compensation for diminution in earning capacity is awarded as part of general damages.
Chai Kang Wei Samuel v Shaw Linda Gillian	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2010] 3 SLR 587	Singapore	Cited for the conditions under which an award for loss of earning capacity can be made.
Heil v Rankin and another and other appeals	N/A	Yes	[2001] 1 QB 272	N/A	Cited regarding the impact of insurance on the cost of goods and services and the need to avoid setting damages at a level that would materially affect the cost of living.
Wise v Kaye	N/A	Yes	[1962] 1 QB 638	N/A	Cited regarding the impact of insurance on the cost of goods and services and the need to avoid setting damages at a level that would materially affect the cost of living.

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
No applicable rules

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
No applicable statutes

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Whiplash injury
Loss of earnings
Medical Board
Biopsychosocial model
Causation
Exaggeration of symptoms
Loss of earning capacity

15.2 Keywords

whiplash
injury
damages
loss of earnings
teacher
accident
negligence

17. Areas of Law

Area Name	Relevance Score
Whiplash Injury	95
Road Traffic Accident Law	90
Personal Injury	80
Automobile Accidents	70
Torts	60
Measure of Damages	50
Assessment of Damages	50

16. Subjects

Personal Injury
Damages
Negligence