CASSON and ANOR v BARTLETT [1996] NSWCA 93

CASSON v BARTLETT

SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES COURT OF APPEAL

GLEESON CJ and POWELL JA 8 December 1995, 25 June 1996

[1996] NSWCA 93

DAMAGES — Measure of damages — Personal Injuries — Causal relationship between motor vehicle accident and alleged disabilities — Acceptance of plaintiff's evidence as to development of symptoms — Acceptance of opinions of plaintiff's medical witnesses — No question of principle.

Gleeson CJ This is an appeal from a decision from his Honour Judge Craigie QC in the District Court, awarding to the respondent damages in the sum of $54,194.

The respondent sued the appellants for damages for personal injuries allegedly suffered as a result of a motor vehicle accident. Liability was not in issue, and the inattention came before Craigie DCJ for the assessment of damages.

The motor vehicle accident in question which occurred in late December 1992, involved a rear-end collision. A vehicle driven by the respondent was stationary at an intersection, and the appellants' vehicle ran into the back of it.

At the time of the accident the respondent was aged thirty-three. She was employed as a house maid at a motel. She lived with her husband and their three children. Up until the time of the accident, in addition to her work as a house maid, she engaged in relatively strenuous physical activity around the home, including regular lawn mowing and painting. She was a healthy, reasonably active, woman with no significant disabilities.

Immediately following the accident the respondent felt soreness in her neck and left arm. She consulted her general practitioner, and he recommended her to a physiotherapist.

The respondent, who needed the money, continued in her employment as a house maid until June 1993, when she could no longer work in that occupation. Over the whole of that period, however, she said that she was experiencing difficulty in carrying out her normal duties, and she gave evidence that her fellow employees covered for her, in particular by making low beds.