Parker v Wish Designs Pty Ltd

The appeal in *Parker v Wish Designs Pty Ltd* concerned an assessment of damages for past economic loss. The appellant, who had suffered an injury during the course of his employment, contended that the trial judge had erred in calculating his damages by simply taking the mathematical difference between his pre-injury and post-injury earnings. The appellant argued that this approach failed to properly consider his overall loss of economic capacity.

The central legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the trial judge had given proper regard to the appellant's loss of economic capacity when fixing damages for past economic loss, and whether the method adopted by the trial judge was consistent with how the appellant had advanced his claim. The court was also required to determine if the trial judge had made the necessary findings of fact to support the appellant's case on appeal.

Emmett JA and Tobias AJA dismissed the appeal. The court found that the trial judge's approach to calculating past economic loss was permissible and that the judge had made sufficient findings to support the assessment. The appeal was dismissed with costs.