HAINES v HIGGINS [1988] NSWCA 60

HAINES v HIGGINS

SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES COURT OF APPEAL

KirBY P, MCHUGH and CLARKE JJA 24 November 1988, 16 December 1988

[1988] NSWCA 60

DAMAGES — negligence action — quantification of damages — injury to back of female school cleaner aged 40 — underlying degenerative condition of the spine — subject injury acknowledged to have triggered subsequent disabilities — plaintiff lives in Taree — ceases work after injury — assisted in house chores by members of her family — medical evidence indicates permanent disability with possible disc protrusion — trial judge (Mathews 3) enters judgment for $255,165.04 — challenge to allowances for loss of economic capacity; home help and general damages — held: Challenges to all components save for future general damages not sustained — some double counting in allowances for future general damages and allowances for future loss of earning capacity and home help — provision for home help in the circumstances properly made. Griffiths y Kerkemeyer (1976-77) 139 CLR 161; Burnicle v Cutelli [1982] 2 NSWLR 26, 37 applied — but provision for general damages exceeds bounds of sound discretionary assessment — general damages for the future reduced from $50,000 to $25,000.

Claims against the Government and Crown Suits Act 1912

ORDERS

1. Appeal allowed.

2. Judgment of Mathews 3 dated 16 October 1987, set aside.

3. In lieu thereof order that the appellant pay to the respondent the sum of $231,497.54. Credit to be given for any amount already paid.

4. The appellant to pay the respondent's costs of the trial.

5. The respondent to pay the appellant's costs of the appeal.

Kirby P, McHugh and Clarke JJA The appellant is the nominal defendant appointed pursuant to the Claims against the Government and Crown Suits Act 1912 in respect of a claim for damages brought by Mrs Maureen Higgins (the respondent). He appeals from a judgment in favour of the respondent, entered on 16 October 1987 by Mathews J.