DAVIDS HOLDINGS PTY LTD v HUNTINGTON [1988] NSWCA 34

DAVIDS HOLDINGS PTY LTD v HUNTINGTON

SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES COURT OF APPEAL

KirByY P, MCHUGH and CLARKE JJA

4 August 1988, 4 August 1988

[1988] NSWCA 34

PERSONAL INJURIES — QUANTUM — JURY VERDICT

Clarke JA In this appeal the appellant, who was the defendant in the court below, challenges an award by a jury of damages in favour of the respondent in the sum of $250,000. The appellant contends that that amount is excessive.

It is trite law that a defendant who seeks to contend that a jury's verdict is excessive faces a heavy burden. The test is, in my opinion, correctly expressed in the Amended Notice of Appeal to this effect, that the award of the jury in favour of the plaintiff was such that a reasonable jury properly instructed could not have found it upon the evidence.

I therefore concentrate my attention on the question whether the award which was made in this case is such that no reasonable jury properly instructed could have made.

The manner in which the appeal was conducted renders it unnecessary to dwell upon the fine details of the respondent's injuries, his consequent disabilities and the development of his condition to the time of trial. I will therefore content myself with outlining the basic facts.

Prior to ceasing work on 17 April 1982, the respondent had worked for the appellant for a number of years. In about September 1981 he started working on a machine known as the order matic machine. In the course of his employment working on that machine he was required to lift cartons on a repetitive basis. Towards the middle of May, and perhaps even before, he noticed pains in both his arms. On 17 May, which on my understanding was a Monday, he returned to work after a weekend and after a short time felt the onset of significant pains in both arms. He left work then and has not worked since.