Beaten for a black belt and a deadly delay

British Columbia: The family of a U.S. soldier killed in Iraq is suing a Vancouver-based dating website. Lt. Peter Burks died in 2007. His parents sued Plenty of Fish after his photo appeared in an ad on the site. Burke was engaged to be married when he died and had never used the service being advertised.

Alberta: An Edmonton man is suing his tae kwon do instructor after he suffered what he calls “catastrophic” injuries while being tested for his black belt. In a statement of claim, the man says the instructor punched and kicked him without mercy during the test. He then suffered severe brain trauma that led to a stroke. He’s seeking $500,000 in damages from the instructor and the school.

Ontario: The family of a man who died while waiting for an ambulance during Toronto’s city workers strike in 2009 is suing the city and its emergency services department. Jim Hearst waited more than 35 minutes for help after he suffered a heart attack in his apartment. His family blames the city and its workers for not getting there sooner. They’re seeking $10 million in damages.

Quebec: The Supreme Court of Canada awarded a man $16,000 after he sued Time magazine and its marketing arm. The man thought he had won more than $800,000 in a publisher’s sweepstakes. Instead he’d been caught by a common subscription-drive gambit. In its judgment, the court ruled that companies have a duty not just to savvy consumers but to “credulous and inexperienced” ones too.

New Brunswick: A much-delayed defamation suit launched by a municipal pension board against a former city councillor is under way in Saint John. The board claims John Ferguson defamed it by questioning its handling of the city’s pension fund in comments starting in 2005. At the time, the fund had a deficit of $47 million. The deficit is now more than $190 million.