Justice system not a forum for all grievances: Mazzeo

 
Although a lawsuit launched by a doctor who claimed his ex-lover ‘fraudulently’ got pregnant shows some creativity, it’s not a case Vaughan family lawyer Paul Mazzeo would ever consider accepting.
 
“The justice system is not designed to address all of people’s problems,” Mazzeo, principal of Mazzeo Law, says.
 
“Sometimes people just have to own up to their mistakes and deal with them,” he says.
 
A Toronto doctor sued a former sexual partner for $4 million, alleging fraud, deceit, and fraudulent misrepresentation, but a court wouldn’t accept his statement of claim, reports the Toronto Star. His second attempt before the Ontario Court of Appeal was also unsuccessful.
 
“It’s such a novel thing, you don’t hear about this kind of case very often,” says Mazzeo. “It’s interesting to see how colleagues can be creative and think outside the box to help people who feel they’ve been wronged, but I don’t agree that was the case here.”
 
The man accused the woman of lying about taking birth control when they had intercourse a few times without using condoms. When he learned of the woman’s pregnancy, he sued her.
 
The question, wrote one of the three appeal judges, is whether the “aggrieved father” could recover damages from his former sexual partner for “involuntary parenthood.” The answer, the panel decided, is no.
 
“I think part of the decision from the appeals court judge was that if he was under the impression she was on birth control, he would have known, especially being a doctor, that it’s never 100 per cent foolproof,” says Mazzeo.
 
“A reasonable person could expect that there could potentially be an outcome from their sexual relationship. On some level, even though it might not be what you want or what you’re planning, it’s something that could happen and should be prepared for, even if it’s less than a one per cent chance.
 
“Legally, it’s hard to say what he was after — or why. If someone came into my office looking to retain me for this exact thing, I wouldn’t take it on. What’s more important is the child.”
 
The man appears to be doing the right thing by paying child support and establishing a relationship with the child, Mazzeo says, but “on the other hand, he was seeking $4 million from a single mom, which just doesn’t seem right.
 
“I don’t think that our justice system is a forum to deal with these kinds of problems. People have to own their mistakes and not try to use the justice system to get out of them,” he says.
 
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