Oyston v St Patrick's College [2011] NSWSC 269

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Oyston v St Patrick's College [2011] NSWSC 269 Hearing dates: 16 June 2010, 17 June 2010, 18 June 2010, 19 June 2010, 20 June 2010, 13 December 2010, 14 December 2010, 15 December 2010, 16 December 2010, 17 December 2010 Decision date: 13 April 2011 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Schmidt J Decision: 1. Verdict for the plaintiff. 2. The parties are to bring in short minutes reflecting the conclusions and findings I have come to. Catchwords: TORT - NEGLIGENCE - personal injury - psychiatric/psychological harm - plaintiff bullied and harassed by other pupils at high school - complaints of bullying to school authorities by plaintiff, plaintiff's mother and other school students - observations made by school staff of bullying - symptoms of anxiety and depressed mood engaging in self harm, collapses and seizures - nature and content of duty of care owed - whether duty of care was breached - school aware of bullying - school's bullying policies and practices - inadequate implementation of bullying policies established - question of whether plaintiff suffered illness - psychiatric injury established - causation - reasonable foreseeability of damage - supervision - damages - relevance of plaintiff's vulnerability to psychiatric injury and experiences at home - contributory negligence

DAMAGES - measure of damages in action for tort - personal injuries - loss of earnings and earning capacity non-economic loss - past economic loss - future economic loss - domestic assistance - treatment - superannuation Legislation Cited: Civil Liability Act 2002 Limitation Act 1969 Cases Cited: Adeels Palace Pty Ltd v Moubarak; Adeels Palace Pty Ltd v Bou Najem [2009] HCA 48; (2009) 239 CLR 420 Amoud v Al Batat [2009] NSWCA 333 Arthur Robinson (Grafton) Pty Ltd v Carter [1968] HCA 9; (1968) 122 CLR 649 Cox v State of New South Wales [2007] NSWSC 471; (2007) 71 NSWLR 225 Malec v JC Hutton Pty Ltd [1990] HCA 20; (1990) 169 CLR 638 Nationwide News Pty Ltd v Naidu; ISS Security Pty Ltd v Naidu [2007] NSWCA 377; (2007) 71 NSWLR 471 Purkess v Crittenden [1965] HCA 34; (1965) 114 CLR 164 Penrith City Council v Parks [2004] NSWCA 201 Roman Catholic Church Trustees for the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn v Hadba [2005] HCA 31; (2005) 221 CLR 161 Seltsam Pty Ltd v Ghaleb [2005] NSWCA 208 State of New South Wales v Burton [2006] NSWCA 12 Vairy v Wyong Shire Council [2005] HCA 62; (2005) 223 CLR 422 Watts v Rake [1960] HCA 58; (1960) 108 CLR 158 Woolworths Limited v Strong [2010] NSWCA 282 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Plaintiff - Jazmine Oyston Defendant - St Patrick's College Representation: Counsel: Plaintiff - Mr D Kennedy SC with Mr G Smith Defendant - Mr R Sheldon SC with Mr N Chen Solicitors: Plaintiff - Lough Wells Duncan Defendant - Makinson & d'Apice File Number(s): 2007/265225