Hoad v Peel Valley Exporters Pty Ltd [2008] NSWSC 981

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : Hoad v Peel Valley Exporters Pty Ltd [2008] NSWSC 981

HEARING DATE(S) : 24 June - 2 July 2008

JUDGMENT DATE : 19 September 2008

JUDGMENT OF : Harrison J

DECISION : 1. Verdict for the plaintiff for $705,554.33. 2. Order the defendant to pay the plaintiff's costs.

CATCHWORDS : NEGLIGENCE – duty of care – liability of defendant "host employer"/occupier of premises used to conduct an abattoir at which plaintiff sent to work by her employer - employer a company related to defendant – plaintiff injured in course of lifting boxes of meat products from work table to conveyor – defendant negligent in failing to eliminate unsafe system – assessment of employer and defendant's respective liability for purposes of s151Z(2)(c) Workers Compensation Act 1987 – DAMAGES – plaintiff with asymptomatic condition rendered symptomatic by injury in course of employment - whether natural progression of disease would have led to disability absent the work injury – reduction of damages for future by an increase in discount for vicissitudes to 25 per cent to reflect chance that pre-existing condition would have developed without work injury – CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE – whether plaintiff failed to take care for her own safety by performing work other than in the way designed – no contributory negligence.

Civil Liablity Act 2002 LEGISLATION CITED : Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1946 Workers Compensation Act 1987

CATEGORY : Principal judgment

Clout Industrial Pty Limited (In Liquidation) v Baiada Poultry Pty Limited [2004] NSWCA 89; (2004) 61 NSWLR 111 Grljak v Trivan Pty Limited (In Liquidation) (1994) 35 NSWLR 82 CASES CITED : J Blackwood & Son v Skilled Engineering [2008] NSWCA 142 Maricic v Dalma Formwork (Australia) Pty Ltd [2006] NSWCA 174 Pollard v Baulderstone Hornibrook Engineering Pty Ltd [2008] NSWCA 99 TNT Australia Pty Limited v Christie [2003] NSWCA 47; (2003) 65 NSWLR 1