Fofana v Inghams Enterprises Pty Ltd

DISTRICT COURT OF QUEENSLAND

CITATION:

Fofana v Inghams Enterprises Pty Ltd [2014] QDC 224

PARTIES:

ELLEN FOFANA

(plaintiff)

v

INGHAM’S ENTERPRISES PTY LTD
ACN 008 447 345

(defendant)

FILE NO:

112/14

DIVISION:

Civil

PROCEEDING:

Trial

ORIGINATING COURT:

District Court, Brisbane

HEARING DATES:

6, 7, 8, 11 and 15 August 2014

DELIVERED ON:

2 October 2014

DELIVERED AT:

Brisbane

JUDGE:

R S Jones DCJ

ORDER:

1.        The plaintiff’s claim is dismissed

2.       I will hear from the parties regarding any consequential orders

CATCHWORDS:

TORTS – NEGLIGENCE – DUTY OF CARE – IMPLIED TERM OF CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT – relationship between employer and employee – where plaintiff worked at the defendant’s chicken abattoir – where alleged work practices caused injury to plaintiff’s lower back – whether defendant in breach of its common law and/or contractual duties to the plaintiff – where change in the processing system occurred during course of plaintiff’s employment – weight to be given to expert evidence – relevance of expert evidence.

TORTS – NEGLIGENCE – IMPLIED TERM OF CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT – QUANTUM – whether claims for general damages, past and future economic loss – paid assistance proved to appropriate standard – where evidence of economic loss imprecise – where evidence is such that resort to a global assessment of damages required

Strong v Woolworths Ltd (2012) HCA 5

Wolters v University of Sunshine Coast (2012) QSC 298: (2013) QCA 228

Curtis v Harden Shire Council (2014) NSWCA 314

Gold Ribbon Accountants Pty Ltd v Sheens & Ors (2006) QCA 335

Nucifora & Anor v AAI Limited (2013) QSC 338.

COUNSEL:

Mr R W Morgan for the plaintiff

Mr G C O’Driscoll for the defendant

SOLICITORS:

Shine Lawyers for the plaintiff

BT Lawyers for the defendant

1. This proceeding was concerned with a claim by the plaintiff against the defendant in negligence and/or contract for damages.  For the reasons given below the orders of the court are:

1.          The plaintiff’s claim is dismissed;

2.          I will hear from the parties regarding any consequential orders.

Background

1. The plaintiff was born on 23 January 1973 in Liberia, West Africa.  Her background is an unfortunate one.  She is illiterate in both her native language and English.  However, over time and after taking various courses she is now able to converse in English although it is still very clearly not her first language.  The plaintiff married very young in Liberia and after her husband was executed during the armed conflict in that country she fled to Lebanon with her daughter.  The plaintiff’s husband was in fact executed on the same day their daughter was born.  In Lebanon, the plaintiff worked predominantly in the domestic area and met and married her second husband. 

1. In April 2006, the plaintiff and her husband came to Australia as refugees.  They separated some time in 2012.  On arriving in Australia, notwithstanding her obvious language difficulties, the plaintiff began to work in 2006 again predominantly carrying out domestic type duties including cleaning for the Saville Hotel Group at Southbank.…