Bridge Printery Pty Ltd v Mestre

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.