Tag Archives: NORTHERN BEACHES

Duty of Care, LAW FIRM, Negligence, Personal Injury, Torts, Work injuries

Bankstown Foundry Pty Ltd v Braistina [1986] HCA 20 | 13 May 1986

ON THIS DAY in 1986, the High Court of Australia delivered Bankstown Foundry Pty Ltd v Braistina [1986] HCA 20; (1986) 160 CLR 301 (13 May 1986).

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/1986/20.html

“Negligence – Master and servant – Duty of care – Safe system of work – Employer’s duty to provide – Scope of duty – Contributory negligence.”

Braistina was a metal trades worker employed by Bankstown Foundry. As part of his duties he drilled holes in cast iron pipes weighing about 60 pounds. He was required to lift about 40 pipes an hour from a pallet onto a drilling machine and then onto another pallet after the drilling.

On a particular shift, Braistina injured his neck after drilling about 115 pipes over a three hour period. Medical evidence showed that the lifting and twisting made the risk of injury foreseeable and not far fetched and fanciful.

A hoist was readily available but not used. The use of the hoist was not impracticable, caused no undue expense or nor any difficulty. Had the hoist been used the risk of injury would have been eliminated.

The court held that in the circumstances, a prudent employer would reasonably require that the hoist be used.

An employer must take reasonable steps to enforce a safe system of work, otherwise they are in breach of their duty of care to the employee and will be found negligent and liable for the injury, loss and damage suffered by the employee.

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Sydney, Australia

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Commercial Law, Contract, Equity, LAW FIRM

Equity – Guarantee – Mortgage – Guarantor under disability – Setting aside – Unconscionable bargain – Misrepresentation

Commercial Bank of Australia Ltd v Amadio [1983] HCA 14; (1983) 151 CLR 447 (12 May 1983).

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/1983/14.html

“Equity – Mortgage and guarantee – Right to set aside – Unusual transactions between bank and customer – Bank’s failure to disclose to mortgagor guarantor – Misrepresentation.

Guarantee – Guarantor under disability – Dealing with bank – Bank knowing of disability – Unconscionable bargain – Onus of proof – Whether transaction should be set aside unconditionally.”

An elderly Italian migrant couple had mortgaged land they owned as a guarantee for a loan from the bank to their son’s business. The business then went into liquidation and the bank demanded payment of the guarantee and then attempted to exercise a power of sale over the land.

The Amadios argued that the guarantee and mortgage should set aside as:

  • they spoke limited English;
  • they did not receive independent advice and were not advised to do so;
  • they were not aware of their son’s financial situation, although the bank was; and
  • they mistakenly believed that the liability was limited to $50,000.

The court held that the mortgage and guarantee must be set aside as it was unconscionable for the bank to enter into those transactions in circumstances where the bank through it’s superior bargaining power had gained an unconscientious advantage to the detriment of the Amadios who suffered a special disability.

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Sydney, Australia

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Commercial Law, Contract, Equity, LAW FIRM

Commercial Bank of Australia Ltd v Amadio [1983] HCA 14 | 12 May 1983

ON THIS DAY in 1983, the High Court of Australia delivered Commercial Bank of Australia Ltd v Amadio [1983] HCA 14; (1983) 151 CLR 447 (12 May 1983).

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/1983/14.html

“Equity – Mortgage and guarantee – Right to set aside – Unusual transactions between bank and customer – Bank’s failure to disclose to mortgagor guarantor – Misrepresentation.

Guarantee – Guarantor under disability – Dealing with bank – Bank knowing of disability – Unconscionable bargain – Onus of proof – Whether transaction should be set aside unconditionally.”

An elderly Italian migrant couple had mortgaged land they owned as a guarantee for a loan from the bank to their son’s business. The business then went into liquidation and the bank demanded payment of the guarantee and then attempted to exercise a power of sale over the land.

The Amadios argued that the guarantee and mortgage should set aside as:

  • they spoke limited English;
  • they did not receive independent advice and were not advised to do so;
  • they were not aware of their son’s financial situation, although the bank was; and
  • they mistakenly believed that the liability was limited to $50,000.

The court held that the mortgage and guarantee must be set aside as it was unconscionable for the bank to enter into those transactions in circumstances where the bank through it’s superior bargaining power had gained an unconscientious advantage to the detriment of the Amadios who suffered a special disability.

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Sydney, Australia

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Contract, Injunctions, LAW FIRM

Contract – Implied terms – Frustration – Injunction – Extrinsic evidence of intention

Codelfa Construction Pty Ltd v State Rail Authority of NSW [1982] HCA 24; (1982) 149 CLR 337 (11 May 1982).

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/1982/24.html

“Contract – Construction – Implied terms – Frustration – Contract to carry out excavations for rail authority – Completion required by certain date – Contractor working three shifts seven days per week – Injunction granted to third party restraining contractor from working at certain times – Whether implied term of contract that authority would grant reasonable extension of time and indemnify contractor against additional costs occasioned by grant of injunction – Whether injunction frustrated contract – Extrinsic evidence of intention.
Arbitration – Jurisdiction to entertain claim that contract frustrated – Power to award interest on award – Compound interest – Supreme Court Act 1970 (N.S.W.), s. 94(1).”

Codelfa contracted with the State Rail Authority’s predecessor, the NSW Commissioner for Railways, to perform the excavations on Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs railway. It was agreed that Codelfa would perform three shifts per day over a fixed period, but they were unable to meet this requirement because of injunctions brought by local residents.

Codelfa sought damages from the SRA on two grounds: (1) that there was an implied term that if they were restrained by injunctions the SRA would extend time for completion or would indemnify Codelfa for any losses caused by the injunctions; in the alternative, (2) that the contract was frustrated by the injunctions.

Mason J at 352 observed that the “true rule” regarding the admission of evidence of the surrounding circumstances is that such evidence is admissible if the language of the contract is ambiguous or capable of more than one meaning but is not admissible to contradict the language which has a plain meaning.

The court held that there was no implied term. Even if a term needed to be implied to give efficacy to the contract, the was not a term “so obvious it goes without saying”. The court referred with approval to its earlier decision in Secured Income Real Estate (Australia) Ltd v St Martins Investments Pty Ltd [1979] HCA 51; (1979) 144 CLR 596.

Codelfa was nevertheless successful with the court holding that the contract was frustrated because “the performance of the contract in the events which have occurred is radically different from performance of the contract in the circumstances which it, construed in the light of surrounding circumstances, contemplated”.

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Sydney, Australia

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Contract, Injunctions, LAW FIRM

Codelfa Construction Pty Ltd v State Rail Authority of NSW [1982] HCA 24 | 11 May 1982

ON THIS DAY in 1982, the High Court of Australia delivered Codelfa Construction Pty Ltd v State Rail Authority of NSW [1982] HCA 24; (1982) 149 CLR 337 (11 May 1982).

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/1982/24.html

“Contract – Construction – Implied terms – Frustration – Contract to carry out excavations for rail authority – Completion required by certain date – Contractor working three shifts seven days per week – Injunction granted to third party restraining contractor from working at certain times – Whether implied term of contract that authority would grant reasonable extension of time and indemnify contractor against additional costs occasioned by grant of injunction – Whether injunction frustrated contract – Extrinsic evidence of intention.
Arbitration – Jurisdiction to entertain claim that contract frustrated – Power to award interest on award – Compound interest – Supreme Court Act 1970 (N.S.W.), s. 94(1).”

Codelfa contracted with the State Rail Authority’s predecessor, the NSW Commissioner for Railways, to perform the excavations on Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs railway. It was agreed that Codelfa would perform three shifts per day over a fixed period, but they were unable to meet this requirement because of injunctions brought by local residents.

Codelfa sought damages from the SRA on two grounds: (1) that there was an implied term that if they were restrained by injunctions the SRA would extend time for completion or would indemnify Codelfa for any losses caused by the injunctions; in the alternative, (2) that the contract was frustrated by the injunctions.

Mason J at 352 observed that the “true rule” regarding the admission of evidence of the surrounding circumstances is that such evidence is admissible if the language of the contract is ambiguous or capable of more than one meaning but is not admissible to contradict the language which has a plain meaning.

The court held that there was no implied term. Even if a term needed to be implied to give efficacy to the contract, the was not a term “so obvious it goes without saying”. The court referred with approval to its earlier decision in Secured Income Real Estate (Australia) Ltd v St Martins Investments Pty Ltd [1979] HCA 51; (1979) 144 CLR 596.

Codelfa was nevertheless successful with the court holding that the contract was frustrated because “the performance of the contract in the events which have occurred is radically different from performance of the contract in the circumstances which it, construed in the light of surrounding circumstances, contemplated”.

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Sydney, Australia

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Duty of Care, LAW FIRM, Negligence, United Kingdom

Negligence – Reasonably foreseeable – Personal injury

Bolton v Stone [1951] AC 850; [1951] 1 All ER 1078; [1951] UKHL 2 (10 May 1951).

http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKHL/1951/2.html

Liability does not extend to damage caused by a certain act or omission unless the possibility of causing the damage was reasonably foreseeable at the time.

The damage is not reasonably foreseeable if the likelihood of it happening involves a risk so small that a reasonable person would feel justified in disregarding it.

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Disability Law, Family Law, Human Rights, LAW FIRM

Children – Intellectual disability – Sterilization – Family Law

Department of Health & Community Services v JWB & SMB (“Marion’s Case”) [1992] HCA 15; (1992) 175 CLR 218 (6 May 1992).

“Children – Intellectual disability – Sterilization – Power of parents to consent – Assault – Parens patriae jurisdiction of court – Criminal Code Act 1983 (N.T.), ss 1, 26, 181, 187 188.

Family Law (Cth) – Family Court – Jurisdiction – Welfare – Parens patriae – Intellectually disabled child – Sterilization – Power of Court to authorize operation – Effect of authorization on criminal law – Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), ss. 63, 64, 64E – Criminal Code Act 1983 (N.T.), ss 1, 26, 181, 187, 188.”

The court held that the parents of a 14 year old mentally retarded girl from the Northern Territory could not lawfully authorize a sterilization procedure on their child without an order of a court.

The court held that the Family Court of Australia has the jurisdiction  to authorize the carrying out of a sterilization procedure but could not approve consent being given to the parents unless the court authorizes the procedure.

Whilst parents or guardians may authorize or consent to the carrying out of a therapeutic treatment of their child, they have no such power regarding non-therapeutic treatment.

Sterilization of an intellectuallly disabled minor falls outside of the ordinary scope of parenal powers if the procedure is not obviously necessary.

Children have the right to personal integrity under domestic and international law. Procedures, such as sterilization, are “invasive, irreversible and major surgery”. It is up to the court, not the parents or guardians, to decide the appropriate circumstances that are in the best interests of the child.

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/1992/15.html

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Appeals, Constitutional law, LAW FIRM

Constitutional Law (Cth) – Freedom of interstate trade and commerce – Prohibition by State law of sale of undersize crayfish

Cole v Whitfield (“Tasmanian Lobster case”) [1988] HCA 18; (1988) 165 CLR 360; (1988) 78 ALR 42; (1988) 62 ALJR 303 (2 May 1988).

“Constitutional Law (Cth) – Freedom of interstate trade and commerce – Prohibition by State law of sale of undersize crayfish – Application to crayfish brought for sale from another State – The Constitution (63 & 64 Vict. c. 12), s. 92 – Sea Fisheries Regulations 1962 (Tas.), reg. 31(1) (d).”

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/1988/18.html

A Tasmanian law that prohibited the possession of undersized lobsters imported from South Australia was upheld as not infringing the free trade provisions of s92 of the Constitution as it was not discriminatory in a protectionist sense.

Appeals, Constitutional law, LAW FIRM

Constitutional Law (Cth) – Freedom of interstate trade and commerce – Prohibition by State law of sale of undersize crayfish

Cole v Whitfield (“Tasmanian Lobster case”) [1988] HCA 18; (1988) 165 CLR 360; (1988) 78 ALR 42; (1988) 62 ALJR 303 (2 May 1988).

“Constitutional Law (Cth) – Freedom of interstate trade and commerce – Prohibition by State law of sale of undersize crayfish – Application to crayfish brought for sale from another State – The Constitution (63 & 64 Vict. c. 12), s. 92 – Sea Fisheries Regulations 1962 (Tas.), reg. 31(1) (d).”

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/1988/18.html

A Tasmanian law that prohibited the possession of undersized lobsters imported from South Australia was upheld as not infringing the free trade provisions of s92 of the Constitution as it was not discriminatory in a protectionist sense.

Damages, LAW FIRM, Personal Injury

Damages – negligence – personal injuries

Cullen v Trappell [1980] HCA 10; (1980) 146 CLR 1 (1 May 1980).

“Damages – Negligence – Personal injuries – Effect of taxation liability on quantum of damages – Whether damages should be reduced by tax plaintiff would have paid in respect of earnings if he had not been injured – Gourley principle.
Practice (N.S.W.) – Judgment – Interest – Damages for personal injuries – Damages for economic loss up to date of judgment – Damages for other than economic loss – Discretion – Supreme Court Act, 1970 (N.S.W.), s. 94 (1).”

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/1980/10.html

The court overruled the earlier High Court decision of Atlas Tiles Ltd v Briers (1978) 144 CLR 202 and affirmed the rule in British Transport Commission v Gourley [1956] AC 185.

Damages are to compensate the plaintiff for the loss suffered, no more or no less. If the damages are taxable income, allowance should be made for this by an award of the gross sum.  If the damages are not taxable, the award should be reduced by any tax the plaintiff would have been required to pay. If the plaintiff is entitled to a tax deduction as a result of the loss, an allowance should be made in the award.

In a claim for personal injuries damages, a court must assess the plaintiff’s pre-injury earning capacity with regards to their net income after tax.  An assessment involving gross income would result in over-compensation.

Interest on past continuing losses is not to be paid at the full rate for the whole period as this would lead to over-compensation. Instead, interest is to be paid at half the rate over the full period or at the full rate over half the period so as to take into account the gradual way in which interest accrues. The awarding of interest is a discretionary matter that must be approached in a “broad and practical way”.

 

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