Brady v Woolworths Ltd (No 3)

DISTRICT COURT OF QUEENSLAND

CITATION:	Brady v Woolworths Ltd (No 3) [2010] QDC 346
PARTIES:	GLORIA HELEN BRADY (Plaintiff)
AND
WOOLWORTHS LTD (ACN 000 014 675) (Defendant)
FILE NO/S:	BD657/08
DIVISION:	Trial
PROCEEDINGS:	Civil
ORIGINATING  COURT:	District Court, Brisbane
DELIVERED ON:	10 September 2010
DELIVERED AT:	Brisbane
HEARING DATE:	16-19 August 2010
JUDGE:	Reid DCJ
ORDER:	Judgement for the Defendant.
CATCHWORDS:	TORTS – NEGLIGENCE – ESSENTIALS OF ACTION FOR NEGLIGENCE – DUTY OF CARE - SPECIAL RELATIONSHIPS AND DUTIES – OCCUPIERS – where plaintiff entered a shop and tripped over a roll bar used for transporting clothes – where Plaintiff suffered significant health issues prior to accident – whether risk of injury was foreseeable to plaintiff – whether the respondent failed to do what a reasonable person would in the circumstances do by way of response to that foreseeable risk
Lynch v Kinney Shoes (Australia) Limited [2005] QCA 326 – applied
Lynch v Kinney Shoes (Australia) Ltd & Ors 2004 QSC 370 – applied
Thompson v Woolworths (Qld) Pty Ltd 2005 HCA 19 – distinguished
Rasic v Cruz (2000) NSWCA 66 – followed
COUNSEL:	G. Cross for the Plaintiff R. Morton for the Defendant
SOLICITORS:	Colin Patino Lawyers for the Plaintiff DLA Phillips Fox for the Defendant

[1]      The plaintiff, Gloria Brady, claims damages for injuries suffered in an incident which occurred on 29 December 2006 at the defendant’s Big W store situated at the Sugarland Shopping Centre, Bundaberg.

[2]      The plaintiff, who was born on 19 February 1947, is currently 63 years and six months of age. At the time of the accident she was 59 years and 10 months of age.

[3]      Both quantum and liability are in dispute.

Plaintiff’s case

[4]      The plaintiff said that on the morning of 29 December she attended the Sugarland Shopping Centre, intending to buy some clothes. She went with her husband, Raymond Brady, her son, Shane Brady, and his wife Jodie Brady, and her four grandchildren. It was the Christmas sales period and she says the shops were busy and the Big W store was untidy. She said that after selecting various items of clothes from the women’s wear section, she made her way towards the shoe area where she intended to look for some shoes for her grandchildren. In the course of her evidence she adopted a diagram as representing the Big W store in the area where she fell. This became Exhibit 15, and is attached to these reasons. She said that she was situated near the second box from the bottom shown in the centre of the exhibit. She said that signs on the display boxes were at about her eye height or above. She said she was 157 centimetres tall. She said the signs were directly facing her as she was at the left-hand edge of the box depicted in Exhibit 15.

[5]      In my view there is significant doubt as to whether or not her recollection of where the signs were facing is accurate. It would…