Commissioner for Railways v Farley

The Commissioner for Railways (NSW) appealed to the High Court of Australia against a judgment of the Supreme Court of New South Wales in favour of Farley. The dispute concerned the appellant's liability for injuries sustained by the respondent, a railway employee, who alleged he had suffered a nervous shock as a result of witnessing a train derailment caused by the appellant's negligence.

The High Court was required to determine whether the appellant owed a duty of care to the respondent in relation to the risk of nervous shock, and if so, whether that duty had been breached. A further issue was whether the respondent's injury, a nervous shock, was a foreseeable consequence of the appellant's negligent conduct.

The Court held that the appellant owed a duty of care to its employees to take reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable harm, including harm by way of nervous shock. The Court found that the derailment was caused by the appellant's negligence in failing to maintain the track in a safe condition. It was also held that it was reasonably foreseeable that an employee in the respondent's position, witnessing such an event, might suffer nervous shock. The principles of foreseeability and the scope of the duty of care owed by an employer to an employee were central to the Court's reasoning.

The appeal was dismissed.