Kylie Tricia Kaufman v Wayne Kozak

Kylie Tricia Kaufman (the appellant) appealed to the Court of Appeal of New South Wales against a decision of a trial judge concerning personal injury damages arising from a motor vehicle accident. The primary dispute concerned the extent to which the appellant's pre-existing lower back condition should affect the assessment of damages for the injury sustained in the accident, and whether the trial judge had erred in rejecting expert evidence and making adverse credibility findings against the appellant.

The central legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the trial judge had erred in rejecting the evidence of the appellant's experts, whether the trial judge's adverse findings on the appellant's credibility were supported by the evidence, and whether the trial judge's findings regarding the appellant's pre-existing lower back injury were adequately substantiated. The court was required to consider whether the existing injury to a different part of the appellant's lower back was correctly taken into account in the assessment of damages for the injury claimed.

The Court of Appeal found that the trial judge had erred in rejecting the evidence of the appellant's experts and in making adverse credibility findings that were not sufficiently supported by the evidence. The court reasoned that the trial judge's approach to the pre-existing injury had not properly accounted for the appellant's expert evidence regarding the causal link between the accident and the claimed injury, and that the findings of fact were not adequately based on the evidence presented. Consequently, the court set aside the trial judge's order for judgment and remitted the matter to the Master for a fresh assessment of damages. The appellant was awarded costs of the appeal.