CSR Ltd v Eddy

[2005] HCA 64

HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

GLEESON CJ,
McHUGH, GUMMOW, CALLINAN AND HEYDON JJ

CSR LIMITED & ANOR  APPELLANTS

AND

JARRADD EDDY AS ADMINISTRATOR AD LITEM
REPRESENTING THE ESTATE OF
THE LATE JOHN THOMPSON  RESPONDENT

CSR Limited v Eddy [2005] HCA 64

21 October 2005
S523/2004 & S524/2004

ORDER

1.        Appeal allowed in Matter No S523 of 2004.

2.        Appeal dismissed in Matter No S524 of 2004.

3.Set aside order (1) of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales dated 26 November 2003 and, in its place, order that:

(a)      the appeal to that Court is allowed; and

(b)the judgment of the Dust Diseases Tribunal of New South Wales dated 4 April 2003 be reduced to $300,419.49.

4.        Appellants to pay the costs of the respondent in this Court.

On appeal from the Supreme Court of New South Wales

Representation:

D F Jackson QC with T G R Parker for the appellants in both matters (instructed by Makinson & d'Apice Lawyers)

M J Joseph SC with F L Austin and S P W Glascott for the respondent in both matters (instructed by Alex Stuart & Associates)

Notice:  This copy of the Court's Reasons for Judgment is subject to formal revision prior to publication in the Commonwealth Law Reports.

CATCHWORDS

CSR Limited v Eddy

Negligence – Damages – Asbestos-related disease – Compensation for plaintiff's inability to provide domestic assistance to wife – Whether damages are recoverable where a personal injury prevents a plaintiff from providing gratuitous personal or domestic services for another person ("Sullivan v Gordon damages") – Whether Sullivan v Gordon damages are analogous to Griffiths v Kerkemeyer damages – Whether Sullivan v Gordon should be accepted as part of the common law of Australia – Whether Sullivan v Gordon damages could be recovered for those years in which services may have been provided after the plaintiff's death up until the expected date of death but for the tort. 

Costs – Resolution of legal point – Relevance of recurrent litigant – Relevance of plaintiff with no interest in legal position beyond litigation.

1. GLEESON CJ, GUMMOW AND HEYDON JJ.   The defendants (who are the appellants in this Court) admitted liability for negligently exposing the plaintiff to asbestos and thereby causing him to contract mesothelioma.  The trial judge, Judge O'Meally, the President of the Dust Diseases Tribunal of New South Wales, ordered the appellants to pay $465,899.49 in damages to the plaintiff[1].  The New South Wales Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal against that judgment with costs[2].

   [1]Thompson v CSR Ltd (2003) 25 NSWCCR 113.

   [2]CSR Ltd v Thompson (2003) 59 NSWLR 77 (Handley, Sheller and Ipp JJA). The matter of costs was dealt with separately in CSR Ltd v Thompson (No 2) [2004] NSWCA 11.

2. The appellants now appeal against those orders[3].  The point at issue relates to one element in the damages:  the figure of $165,480.  That sum was described in the courts below as "Sullivan v Gordon damages"[4].  It was…