Moriarty v Department of Education [2020] NSWDC 368

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Moriarty v Department of Education [2020] NSWDC 368 Hearing dates: 3, 4, 9 March 2020 Date of orders: 1 July 2020 Decision date: 01 July 2020 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Hatzistergos DCJ Decision: (1) Verdict for the Defendant. (2) Subject to any application within 14 days through my Associate to relist the matter for any further or other order as to costs, the Plaintiff is to pay the Defendant's costs. (3) Exhibits to be retained for 28 days. Catchwords: WORK INJURY DAMAGES– Where Plaintiff is a support officer for children with disabilities in a high school – Plaintiff is struck by soccer ball kicked by a child and suffers neck injury – Whether a failure to adequately supervise amounted to a breach of duty– Whether breach caused the Plaintiff's injuries and whether the risk of harm was foreseeable Legislation Cited: Long Service Leave Act 1955 (NSW), s 4 Cases Cited: Bennett v Minister of Community Welfare [1992] HCA27; (1993) 176 CLR 408 Carswell v Corporation of the Trustees of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane [2012] QSC 253 CSR Ltd v Adecco (Australia) Pty Ltd [2017] NSWCA 121 Fox v Wood (1981) 148 CLR 438 Graham v Baker [1961] HCA 48; (1961) 106 CLR 340 Haines v Rytmeister (1986) 6 NSWLR 529 Henderson v State of Queensland (2014) 255 CLR 1 Jones v Dunkel (1959) 101 CLR 298 Re Day [2017] HCA 2; (2017) 91 ALJR 262 Roads and Traffic Authority v Royal [2008] HCA 19; (2008) 82 ALJR 870 State of New South Wales v Sticker [2015] NSWCA 180 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Gabrielle Moriarty (Plaintiff) Department of Education (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: Mr J De Greenlaw (Plaintiff) Mr L. Morgan (Defendant)