Aldridge v Commissioner of Corrective Services

The case of Aldridge v Commissioner of Corrective Services involved a dispute between the Applicant, Mr Aldridge, and the Respondent, the Commissioner of Corrective Services. Mr Aldridge, an employee of the Department of Corrective Services, alleged that he had suffered injury to his feelings, distress, mental anguish, and other non-pecuniary losses due to actions taken by the Respondent. The matter was heard in the Supreme Court of Victoria.

The court was required to determine whether the Respondent was liable for the alleged non-pecuniary losses suffered by Mr Aldridge. This included assessing whether the actions of the Respondent amounted to a breach of Mr Aldridge's employment contract or were otherwise actionable under tort law. Additionally, the court needed to consider the appropriate quantum of damages, if any, to be awarded to Mr Aldridge for the non-pecuniary losses he claimed to have suffered.

In delivering the judgment, the court found that the Respondent was liable for the non-pecuniary losses suffered by Mr Aldridge. The court determined that the actions of the Respondent amounted to a breach of Mr Aldridge's employment contract and that the losses claimed by Mr Aldridge were reasonably foreseeable as a consequence of the Respondent's actions. The court awarded Mr Aldridge the sum of ten thousand dollars for his non-pecuniary losses. The court also ordered that Mr Aldridge be restored to a position within the Department of Corrective Services where he would have direct contact with indigenous people, in accordance with his Public Service grading. Both parties were ordered to bear their own costs.