The National Post reports in its Thursday edition that convenience store giant 7-Eleven could have saved nearly $800,000 -- perhaps thousands more -- had it accepted an out-of-court settlement offered by a woman injured outside its store in Smithers, B.C. Postmedia's Susan Lazaruk writes that at one point Crystal Tommy of Smithers, who badly broke her ankle by stepping into a parking lot pothole in May, 2018, offered to settle for $125,000. Instead 7-Eleven took the case to trial. Last year, Justice Emily Burke of the B.C. Supreme Court found the company negligent and ordered it to pay Ms. Tommy $907,000 for damages. Now, in a second ruling, Judge Burke has ordered 7-Eleven to pay double the court costs to Ms. Tommy under a B.C. court rule that penalizes parties who fail to settle out of court. The rule aims to encourage early settlements by "rewarding the party who makes a reasonable settlement offer and penalizing the party who declines to accept such an offer." Either party to a lawsuit who does not accept a reasonable offer to settle has to "face the cost consequences in the form of double costs," said Judge Burke's latest ruling, which focused on the issue of court costs. 7-11 had initially offered $25,000 to settle.