Shaw v Niru Construction Pty Ltd & Anor (No.2) [2021] NSWDC 600

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Shaw v Niru Construction Pty Ltd & Anor (No.2) [2021] NSWDC 600 Hearing dates: 23, 24 August, 28, 29 October 2021 Date of orders: 05 November 2021 Decision date: 05 November 2021 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Abadee DCJ Decision: See paragraph 198 Catchwords: TORTS – negligence – plaintiff suffers personal injury after falling onto star picket while walking backwards up a driveway – claim brought against construction company and director as occupants of easement where injury occurred – vicarious liability of unidentified subcontractor against company – whether director owes personal duty of care to entrant as registered holder of easement –– whether risk of harm inherent or obvious – calculation of damages – consideration of plaintiff's prospect of future work CIVIL PROCEDURE – procedural fairness – whether open to first defendant to submit it was not responsible for any negligence of a subcontractor in the absence of any pleading Legislation Cited: Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) ss 5F, 5G, 5H, 5I, 13 Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) s 98 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) rr 14.14, 15.12 Cases Cited: Allianz Australia Insurance Ltd v Kerr (2012) 83 NSWLR 302 D'Orta-Ekenaike v Victoria Legal Aid (2005) 233 CLR 1 Malec v J C Hutton Pty Ltd (1990) 169 CLR 638 Penrith City Council v Parks [2004] NSWCA 201 Salomon v Salomon & Co Ltd [1897] AC 22 Seltsam v Ghalloub (2005) 3 DDCR 1 State of NSW v Moss (2000) 54 NSWLR 536 Stojan (No.9) Pty Ltd v Kenway; Ballina Shire Council v Stojan (No.9) Pty Ltd (2009) 210 LGERA 90; [2009] NSWCA 364 Sweeney v Boylan Nominees Pty Ltd (2006) 226 CLR 161 Wyong Shire Council v Vairy [2004] Aust Torts Reports 81-754; [2004] NSWCA 247 Texts Cited: C Sappideen & P Vines, Fleming's The Law of Torts (10th ed, 2011, Lawbook Co) H Luntz & S Harder, Assessment of Damages for Personal Injury and Death (5th ed, 2021, LexisNexis) Category: Principal judgment Parties: Robin Shaw (plaintiff) Niru Construction Pty Ltd (first defendant) Arasaratnam Mahendran (second defendant) Representation: Counsel: Ms E Welsh for the plaintiff Mr A Renshaw for the first and second defendants