Legal Research
Cases
Bridge Printery Pty Ltd v Mestre

Bridge Printery Pty Ltd v Mestre

Case [1999] NSWCA 342 5 October 1999

No judgment structure available for this case.

Type to search within this case.

CITATION: Bridge Printery Pty Ltd v Mestre [1999] NSWCA 342

FILE NUMBER(S): CA 40858/97

HEARING DATE(S): 16/09/99

JUDGMENT DATE:
5 October 1999

PARTIES :

Bridge Printery Pty Ltd v Jose Mestre

JUDGMENT OF: Mason P; Fitzgerald JA; Davies AJA

LOWER COURT JURISDICTION: Supreme Court

LOWER COURT FILE NUMBER(S) : 14815/92

LOWER COURT JUDICIAL OFFICER: Master Harrison

COUNSEL: J N Gleeson QC/E Romaniuk (Appellant)
T Tobin QC/R Sheldon (Respondent)

SOLICITORS: Sparke Helmore (Appellant)
Carroll & O'Dea (Respondent)

CATCHWORDS: Personal injury; damages; effect of post-injury heart attack on quantification; age of retirement; past and future economic loss.

DECISION: Orders: 1. Allow the appeal with costs. ; 2.Set aside the judgment below and in lieu thereof substitute a judgment for the respondent for the amount awarded by the trial judge adjusted as follows:(a) Reduce the amount awarded to the respondent for past economic loss by deducting the wages lost by the respondent during the period 3 June 1988 to 31 December 1988.(b) Reduce the amount awarded to the respondent for past economic loss by calculating that amount on the basis that the respondent would have ceased work at aged 65.(c) Reduce the amount awarded to the respondent for future economic loss by 15% for vicissitudes.

- 13 -
THE SUPREME COURT
OF NEW SOUTH WALES
COURT OF APPEAL

CA 40858/97
CLD14815/92

MASON P
FITZGERALD JA
DAVIES AJA
Tuesday, 5 October 1999

BRIDGE PRINTERY PTY LTD v Jose MESTRE
JUDGMENT

1 MASON P: I have had the benefit of reading the judgment of Fitzgerald JA. I agree, except in relation to future economic loss. 2 A court may assume without specific evidence that a plaintiff would, in the ordinary course, probably have continued to work in the pattern exhibited before injury until reaching the age at which the age pension became payable (Dykstra v Head (1989) Aust Torts Rep ¶80-280). But there is no fixed rule. In a particular case there may be a basis for finding that early retirement was likely or that the plaintiff might have continued to work beyond the ordinarily accepted age of retirement. As McHugh J put it in Medlin v State Government Insurance Commission (1995) 182 CLR 1 at 24:

There is no reason why the plaintiff’s impairment of earning capacity should be treated as ceasing at the age of sixty-five. However, the financial loss which flows from that impairment in respect of the period beyond age sixty-five is of a different measure from the loss for the period up to age sixty-five. It will be necessary to look at all the circumstances, including the intentions of the plaintiff, to determine what, if any, post-retirement remunerative activities the plaintiff would probably have engaged in if the accident had not occurred and for how long he would have continued engaging in those activities. Once that has been done, the court must determine the extent to which the plaintiff’s capacity to engage in these activities has been impaired and the loss which flows therefrom.

See also Balasubramanian v Sara

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

Continue reading Bridge Printery Pty Ltd v Mestre

Details

AGLC: Bridge Printery Pty Ltd v Mestre [1999] NSWCA 342
Case: [1999] NSWCA 342
Decision Date: 5 October 1999

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Bridge Printery Pty Ltd (appellant) appealed a decision of the District Court of New South Wales, which had awarded damages to Mr Mestre (respondent) for personal injuries sustained in the course of his employment. The appeal concerned the quantification of those damages, specifically the impact of a post-injury heart attack on the assessment of economic loss and the appropriate age of retirement.

The primary legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the trial judge had erred in assessing past economic loss by failing to account for a period of absence from work unrelated to the injury, and whether the age of retirement had been correctly determined for the purposes of calculating both past and future economic loss. Additionally, the court considered whether an appropriate allowance had been made for the vicissitudes of life in the assessment of future economic loss.

The Court of Appeal found that the trial judge had erred in awarding full wages for a period during which the respondent was absent from work due to a heart attack, which was a separate medical event from the injury sustained at work. The court also determined that the respondent's age of retirement should have been considered as 65 for the purposes of calculating economic loss, rather than a later age. Furthermore, the court held that a reduction of 15% for vicissitudes was appropriate in assessing future economic loss.

Consequently, the appeal was allowed, and the judgment below was set aside. The court substituted a new judgment for the respondent, with the amount awarded for past economic loss reduced by the wages lost during the specified period and recalculated on the basis of retirement at age 65. The award for future economic loss was also reduced by 15% to account for vicissitudes.

Orders

Orders of the court

Orders: 1. Allow the appeal with costs. ; 2.Set aside the judgment below and in lieu thereof substitute a judgment for the respondent for the amount awarded by the trial judge adjusted as follows:(a) Reduce the amount awarded to the respondent for past economic loss by deducting the wages lost by the respondent during the period 3 June 1988 to 31 December 1988.(b) Reduce the amount awarded to the respondent for past economic loss by calculating that amount on the basis that the respondent would have ceased work at aged 65.(c) Reduce the amount awarded to the respondent for future economic loss by 15% for vicissitudes.

Background

Background to the litigation

Full text does not contain this section.

Evidence

Evidence Before The Court

Full text does not contain this section.

Decision

Reasons for decision

Full text does not contain this section.

Ratio Decidendi

Legal Principle Established

Full text does not contain this section.

Citations

AGLC Citation

Bridge Printery Pty Ltd v Mestre [1999] NSWCA 342

Most Recent Citation

Paul v State of New South Wales [2023] NSWDC 277

Cases citing this decision · 7 of 7 shown

WJT v Trustees of the Marist Brothers; WXC3 v Trustees of the Marist Brothers; GAC v Trustees of the Marist Brothers (No 4)
[2025] NSWSC 1017

…) 88 ALJR 101 Bird v DP (a pseudonym) [2024] HCA 41; (2024) 98 ALJR 1349 Bridge Printery Pty Limited v Mestre [1999] NSWCA 342 Briginshaw v Briginshaw (1938) 60 CLR 336; [1938] HCA 34 Brooks v Burns Philp Trustee Co Ltd (1969) 121 CLR 432; [1969] HCA 4 Bugge v Brown (1919) 26 CLR 110; [1919] HCA 5 Cabot (a pseudony…
Paul v State of New South Wales
[2023] NSWDC 277 Para 339

…ept this evidence, as I am entitled to do, as the age of retirement is not a certain factor such as a heart attack ( Bridge Printery Pty Ltd v Mestre [1999] NSWCA 342).…
Campton v Centennial Newstan Pty Ltd (No 2)
[2014] NSWSC 1799

…obinson (Grafton) Pty Ltd v Carter (1968) 122 CLR 649 Berkeley Challenge Pty Limited v Howarth [2013] NSWCA 370 Bridge Printery Pty Ltd v Jose Mestre [1999] NSWCA 342 De Beer v The State of New South Wales [2009] NSWSC 364 Dell v Dalton (1991) 23 NSWLR 528 Dykstra v Head (1989) Aust Torts Rep 80-280 Fox v Wood (198…
Zurich Australian Insurance Limited v Elizabeth Pellegrino; Elizabeth Pellegrino v NRMA Insurance Australia Ltd
[2010] NSWSC 1114 Para 7

…eal referred to this passage with approval in Jefferies v Roads & Traffic Authority of New South Wales [1997] NSWCA 167; and Bridge Printery v Mestre [1999] NSWCA 342 at [16].…
DNM Mining Pty Ltd v Barwick
[2004] NSWCA 137 Para 10

…obling v Associated Dairies Ltd ), or lost for a period of time from an independent event such as a heart attack ( Bridge Printing Pty Ltd v Mestre [1999] NSWCA 342). The known contingency in Leschke v Jeffs (1955) QWN 67 was the plaintiff’s imprisonment for ten years, which was regarded as diminishing his earning…
Attard v Aberwood P/L
[2003] NSWSC 984

…Arbitrator's sward - Assessment - motor vehicle account LEGISLATION CITED: Motor Accident Act 1988 CASES CITED: Bridge Printery Pty Ltd v Jose Mestre [1999] NSWCA 342 Dykstra v Head (1989) Aust Torts Rep 80-280 Malec v Hutton (1990) 169 CLR 638 Medlin v State Government Insurance Commission (1995) 182 CLR 1 PARTIES…
Government Insurance Office of NSW v Aboushadi
[1999] NSWCA 396 Para 16

…Authority of NSW (28 November 1997, NSW Court of Appeal, unreported), Bridge Printery Pty Ltd v Mestre [1999] NSWCA 342 at [16]. 23 The appellant submitted that these principles do not apply to a situation (like the present) where the second incident (here, the 1991 accident) was itself tortious. It was submitted t…

View all 7 citing cases →

Cases cited in this decision · 8 of 8 shown

Chappel v Hart
[1998] HCA 55

…aw Reports 210; Jobling v Associated Dairies Limited [1982] AC 794; Nilon v Bezzina (1988) 2 QdR 420; Chappel v Hart (1998) 72 ALJR 1344, 1348 [16]. 17 Accordingly, I am of opinion that the respondent’s award for past economic loss should be reduced by the amount which he was awarded in respect of the period from 3 Ju…
Wynn v NSW Insurance Ministerial Corporation
[1995] HCA 53

…ount of the respondent’s particular circumstances. Cf Wynn v NSW Insurance Ministerial Corporation (1995) 184 CLR 485, 497-499. 22 The appellant’s final point related to the respondent’s award for lost superannuation. The amount awarded by the Master was within a range supported by a report provided by a firm of acco…
Todorovic v Waller
[1981] HCA 72

…en applied is that which was enunciated by Gibbs CJ and Wilson J in Todorovic v Waller (1981) 150 CLR 402 at 412 where their Honours said: “ [A] plaintiff who has been injured by the negligence of the defendant should be awarded such a sum of money as will, as nearly as possible, put him in the same position as if he…
Purkess v Crittenden
[1965] HCA 34

…on the appellant to establish when the respondent’s heart condition ceased to incapacitate him. Purkess v Crittenden (1965) 114 CLR 164. 15 In my opinion, the state of the evidence is such that it cannot be concluded that the respondent was incapacitated by his heart condition for any longer than the period from 3 Ju…
Graham v Baker
[1961] HCA 48

…will take account of the facts as have actually occurred: see Graham v Baker (1961) 106 CLR 340 at 346. Accordingly, the damages should be reduced to take account of the period of six months during which Mr Mestre was incapacitated for work by reason of his heart attack. 31 A second issue is that the Master assessed…
Medlin v State Government Insurance Commission
[1995] HCA 5

…might have continued to work beyond the ordinarily accepted age of retirement. As McHugh J put it in Medlin v State Government Insurance Commission (1995) 182 CLR 1 at 24: There is no reason why the plaintiff’s impairment of earning capacity should be treated as ceasing at the age of sixty-five. However, the finan…
[1970] AC 467
[1970] AC 467

…umstances such as the present is to be found in a brief passage in the judgment of Lord Reid in Baker v Willoughby . [1970] AC 467, 494. There is, on the other hand, a persuasive body of opinion to the contrary. See for example Faulkner v Keffalinos (1970) 45 ALJR 80, 85 per Windeyer J; Hogdson v General Electri…
[1982] AC 794
[1982] AC 794

…indeyer J; Hogdson v General Electricty Co Ltd (1978) 2 Lloyds Law Reports 210; Jobling v Associated Dairies Limited [1982] AC 794; Nilon v Bezzina (1988) 2 QdR 420; Chappel v Hart (1998) 72 ALJR 1344, 1348 [16]. 17 Accordingly, I am of opinion that the respondent’s award for past economic loss should be reduced…

Legislation cited in this decision · 1

Workers Compensation Act 1987 (NSW)
1 mention

CITATION:	Bridge Printery Pty Ltd v Mestre [1999] NSWCA 342
FILE NUMBER(S):	CA 40858/97
HEARING DATE(S):	16/09/99
JUDGMENT DATE:	5 October 1999
PARTIES :	Bridge Printery Pty Ltd v Jose Mestre
JUDGMENT OF:	Mason P; Fitzgerald JA; Davies AJA

LOWER COURT JURISDICTION:	Supreme Court
LOWER COURT FILE NUMBER(S) :	14815/92
LOWER COURT JUDICIAL OFFICER:	Master Harrison

COUNSEL:	J N Gleeson QC/E Romaniuk (Appellant) T Tobin QC/R Sheldon (Respondent)
SOLICITORS:	Sparke Helmore (Appellant) Carroll & O'Dea (Respondent)
CATCHWORDS:	Personal injury; damages; effect of post-injury heart attack on quantification; age of retirement; past and future economic loss.
DECISION:	Orders: 1. Allow the appeal with costs. ; 2.Set aside the judgment below and in lieu thereof substitute a judgment for the respondent for the amount awarded by the trial judge adjusted as follows:(a) Reduce the amount awarded to the respondent for past economic loss by deducting the wages lost by the respondent during the period 3 June 1988 to 31 December 1988.(b) Reduce the amount awarded to the respondent for past economic loss by calculating that amount on the basis that the respondent would have ceased work at aged 65.(c) Reduce the amount awarded to the respondent for future economic loss by 15% for vicissitudes.