Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd v Bridge

Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd appealed to the New South Wales Court of Appeal against a judgment of the primary judge who found Coles liable for negligence after a customer, Mr. Bridge, slipped and fell in a wet supermarket carpark. The dispute concerned whether Coles owed a duty of care to Mr. Bridge, whether that duty was breached, and the extent to which Mr. Bridge's own conduct contributed to his injuries.

The Court of Appeal was required to determine two primary legal issues. Firstly, whether the risk of harm to a customer slipping on a wet supermarket carpark surface was foreseeable and whether Coles had breached its duty of care to prevent such harm. Secondly, the Court had to consider whether the primary judge erred in finding no contributory negligence on the part of Mr. Bridge, particularly in light of evidence that he was attending to his mobile phone at the time of the incident.

In its reasoning, the Court of Appeal found that the risk of a customer slipping on a wet carpark was indeed foreseeable, noting that the store manager had described the wet carpark as an "incident waiting to happen." This observation, coupled with the general knowledge of the dangers posed by wet surfaces, established a breach of duty. However, the Court disagreed with the primary judge's finding of no contributory negligence. The Court held that Mr. Bridge's act of attending to his mobile phone, even if momentary, constituted a failure to take reasonable care for his own safety and had a causal connection to his fall. Consequently, the appeal was allowed in part, with the judgment in favour of Mr. Bridge being reduced by 25% to reflect his contributory negligence.