Oyston v St Patrick's College (No 2) [2013] NSWCA 310

Court of Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Oyston v St Patrick's College (No 2) [2013] NSWCA 310 Hearing dates: 29, 30 July 2013 Decision date: 23 September 2013 Before: Macfarlan JA at [1]; Barrett JA at [2]; Tobias AJA at [3]. Decision: 1. Appeal allowed in part. 2. Cross-appeal dismissed. 3. Set aside the judgment in favour of the appellant in the sum of $124,938.48 given and entered on 17 October 2011 and in lieu thereof enter judgment for the appellant in the amount to be determined by the parties in accordance with these reasons and conveyed to the Court within 7 days of the date of these orders. 4. The respondent to pay the appellant's costs of the trial before Schmidt J and of the appeal but to have with respect to the latter a certificate under the Suitors' Fund Act 1951, if otherwise qualified. [Note: The Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 provide (Rule 36.11) that unless the Court otherwise orders, a judgment or order is taken to be entered when it is recorded in the Court's computerised court record system. Setting aside and variation of judgments or orders is dealt with by Rules 36.15, 36.16, 36.17 and 36.18. Parties should in particular note the time limit of fourteen days in Rule 36.16.] Catchwords: TORTS - negligence - appellant bullied and harassed by other pupils at high school -whether psychological harm caused by school's failure adequately to address bullying behaviour - whether primary judge's award of damages adequate Legislation Cited: Civil Liability Act 2002, ss 5D, 5E, 15, 16 Cases Cited: Eire Contractors Pty Ltd v O'Brien [2012] NSWCA 400 Hunt and Hunt Lawyers v Mitchell Morgan Nominees Pty Ltd [2013] HCA 10; 296 ALR 3; 87 ALJR 505 Indigo Mist Pty Ltd v Palmer [2012] NSWCA 239 Kuhl v Zurich Financial Services Ltd [2011] HCA 11; 243 CLR 361 Marsland v Andjelic (1993) 31 NSWLR 162 Strong v Woolworths [2012] HCA 5; (2012) 246 CLR 182 Woolworths Limited v Strong [2010] NSWCA 282 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Jazmine Oyston (Appellant/Cross-Respondent) St Patrick's College (Respondent/Cross-Appellant) Representation: Counsel: H Marshall SC and G Smith (Appellant/Cross-Respondent) R Sheldon SC and S Glascott (Respondent/Cross-Appellant) Solicitors: Lough & Wells Lawyers (Appellant/Cross-Respondent) Makinson & d'Apice (Respondent/Cross-Appellant) File Number(s): 2012/16667 Decision under appeal Citation: Oyston v St Patrick's College [2011] NSWSC 269 Oyston v St Patrick's College [2011] NSWSC 826 (costs) Before: Schmidt J File Number(s): 2007/265225