Australian Safeway Stores Pty Ltd v Zaluzna

Australian Safeway Stores Pty Ltd was the defendant in an action brought by Zaluzna, the plaintiff, who suffered injury when she slipped on a patch of wet lettuce in a Safeway supermarket. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant had breached its duty of care owed to her as an invitee. The case proceeded to the High Court of Australia.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the occupier of a premises owed a duty of care to an invitee in respect of a danger arising from the state of the premises, and if so, the nature and extent of that duty. Specifically, the court considered whether the common law principles governing the duty of an occupier to an invitee had been altered or superseded by the introduction of statutory duties of care, such as those found in occupiers' liability legislation.

The High Court held that the common law duty of an occupier to an invitee is not confined to dangers of which the occupier has actual knowledge. Instead, the occupier owes a duty to take reasonable care to avoid a foreseeable risk of injury to an invitee. This duty extends to dangers arising from the state of the premises, irrespective of whether the occupier had actual knowledge of the specific danger, provided that the risk of injury was reasonably foreseeable. The court affirmed that the principles of negligence, as established in cases like *Donoghue v Stevenson*, apply to the relationship between an occupier and an invitee, and that the occupier's duty is to exercise reasonable care to ensure that the premises are reasonably safe for the invitee. The court found that the existence of a statutory duty of care did not negate or alter the common law duty owed by an occupier to an invitee.

The High Court allowed the appeal, finding that the trial judge had erred in law by applying an incorrect standard of care. The case was remitted to the Supreme Court of Victoria for a new trial.