Hill v Cockatoo Dockyard Pty Ltd [2003] NSWDDT 14

Dust Diseases Tribunal of New South Wales

CITATION : Hill v Cockatoo Dockyard Pty Ltd [2003] NSWDDT 14 Kevin Charles Hill Cockatoo Dockyard Pty Ltd PARTIES : Wallaby Grip Ltd Wallaby Grip (BAE) Pty Ltd Trikon Pacific Holdings Ltd MATTER NUMBER(S) : 111 of 2003 JUDGMENT OF: O'Meally P at 1 CATCHWORDS: :- LEGISLATION CITED: CASES CITED: Griffiths Kerkemeyer [1977] 139 CLR 161; Sullivan v Gordon [1999] 47 NSWLR 319 DATES OF HEARING: 26-27/8/03 EX TEMPORE JUDGMENT DATE : 08/27/2003

FOR PLAINTIFF:Mr R A O'Keefe instructed by Alex Stuart and Associates. FOR FIRST DEFENDANT: Mr B R Ferrari with Mr D R J Toomey instructed by A O Ellison & Co LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES: FOR SECOND DEFENDANT: Mr T J Morahan instructed by Acuiti Legal. FOR THIRD DEFENDANT: Mr G P F Rundle instructed by Hicksons

JUDGMENT:

1. This is an action for damages by Kevin Charles Hill against Cockatoo Dockyard Pty Ltd, Wallaby Grip Ltd and Wallaby Grip (BAE) Pty Ltd.

2. The plaintiff alleges, and it is accepted, that in the course of his employment by each defendant he was exposed to asbestos dust and fibre. It is also the case that in his employment by the first defendant he used products manufactured by the second defendant. It is now accepted that as a result of these exposures he has contracted malignant mesothelioma.

3. The defendants have agreed upon the contribution each should make to the damages to be awarded to the plaintiff. It is implicit from that, that the defendants also concede the plaintiff is entitled to a verdict against each one of them. The plaintiff 4. The plaintiff is now nigh on 70 years and will attain that age on 5 October 2003. According to the most recent Australian life tables an Australian male of 70 years has a life expectancy of 13.30 years; however, the evidence before me is that by reason of unrelated medical conditions the plaintiff's life expectancy apart from his mesothelioma would have been between eight and ten years.