The Globe and Mail: New Brunswick, New Brunswick – A photojournalist has been awarded $1 million in compensation from the province after a camera malfunction in which she took a photograph of a police officer.
In a unanimous decision, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice said the camera malfunction was “unreasonable, unreasonable and unreasonable.”
In a separate decision, a jury found that a man had been wrongly convicted for having taken the photo.
It was the third time in less than a year that a photojournalistic accident has resulted in a payout.
Last week, a photographer lost his job and the photographer sued the city of Fredericton.
The man, whose identity has not been revealed, said the photo he took of a woman and her young child was taken by a camera mounted on a roof.
The woman in the photo was a bystander.
“The camera was not properly maintained,” he wrote in a statement filed with the court.
“I was completely unprepared for the experience and was not aware that the shutter was not set correctly.”
The judge ruled that the city must pay $1,500 to the photographer, who had been working as a photo editor for the Frederictons newspaper.
“It was a tragic accident,” the judge said.
The province has a camera repair program, which allows people to receive $150 to $500 to fix their cameras, which are not subject to the province’s warranty.
In June, a photo of a young boy playing with a ball and a man who was arrested was mistakenly posted online by a photographer, prompting an apology from the mayor of Frederique.
In that case, a woman received $500 for fixing her camera and $500 in compensation for damages.
The province’s insurance program allows coverage for $5,000 to $10,000 for cameras that break.
The photojournalists compensation comes as the province faces a new challenge to the validity of its $5.5-billion camera contract with Canon, which expired in March.
The Liberals signed the contract in July, citing safety concerns, including the need to replace equipment.
But after the provincial election last fall, Premier Mike de Jong said the province needed to look at how it should spend the money and how it could get the contracts back on track.
The Liberal government announced that it would start replacing equipment, including those used by the province, at the end of this year.
The cameras that broke in the accident in Frederique, which happened on Sept. 12, 2018, were used by Frederictonian and New Brunswick police agencies.
Frederictian police said in a release the officer who took the photo at the time of the accident “believes he did not use the correct equipment for the task at hand.”
The provincial police service said the officer was taken to hospital for evaluation after the accident.
“As soon as the officer is back home, he will be fully trained to use the equipment properly,” the police statement said.
“This is a difficult situation for us as a community and as a police force, and we appreciate the support and support we are receiving from the community.”
The Ontario Superior court also ruled that Frederictines lawyer, Peter G. Jones, should pay the $1.5 million to the woman who took part in the lawsuit.
Jones has represented a number of Frederican police officers, including one who lost his career because of the incident.
Jones did not respond to messages seeking comment.