MARKOVSKA v ST GEORGE HOSPITAL [1993] NSWCA 174

MARKOVSKA v ST GEORGE HOSPITAL SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES COURT OF APPEAL

KIRBY P, CLARKE and POWELL JJA 10 December 1993, 10 December 1993

[1993] NSWCA 174

NEGLIGENCE — employer's duty — safe place of work — kitchen worker slips on floor which she recently washed and mopped — jury returns verdict for employer — expert evidence concerning "coefficient of friction" of floor — appeal — claim that verdict perverse — application for leave to add ground alleging misdirection on expert testimony — held:

(1) The complaint about the suggested defects of the expert testimony, not having been reserved at the trial should not be allowed over opposition.

Eggins v Brooms Head Bowling and Recreational Club Ltd (1986) 5 NSWLR 521 (CA) applied;

(2) In any case, the directions on the expert testimony were adequate;

(3) The verdict for the employer was not perverse or so unreasonable that the jury could not, weighing the evidence reasonably, arrive at it.

Calin v Greater Union Organisation Pty Ltd (1991) 173 CLR 33; Metro Meat (Cootamundra) Ltd v Ricardo, Court of Appeal, unreported, 2 November 1993; [1993] NSWJB 115 applied;

(4) Appeal, accordingly, dismissed.

PRACTICE and PROCEDURE - Court of Appeal - grounds of appeal - additional grounds - jury trial - no application for redirection - whether additional grounds should be permitted - held: In the absence of an application for redirection and no relevant injustice being shown, the claim to add the grounds on the appeal should be rejected.

Eggins v Brooms Head Bowling and Recreational Club Ltd (1986) 5 NSWLR 521 applied.

ORDERS 1. Motion for leave to add proposed grounds 2 and 3 to the grounds of appeal dismissed; 2. Appeal dismissed; and 3. The appellant to pay the respondent's costs.

Kirby P This is an appeal from a judgment entered by McDevitt DCJ following a jury verdict for the defendant.