Piro v W Foster & Co Ltd

The case involved an appeal from the Supreme Court of South Australia concerning an injury sustained by Murray Piro, a fourteen-year-old employee, while operating a sheepskin pressing machine. Piro sued his employer, W. Foster & Co. Ltd., alleging a breach of statutory duty under section 321 of the Industrial Code (S.A.) for failing to fence or safeguard dangerous machinery. The employer contended that Piro was guilty of contributory negligence, which they argued was a defence to the claim.

The High Court was required to determine two principal legal issues. Firstly, whether contributory negligence constitutes a defence to an action for personal injury caused by an employer's breach of a statutory duty to fence or safeguard dangerous machinery. Secondly, if contributory negligence is a defence, whether the trial judge's finding that Piro was contributorily negligent was justified on the facts of the case.

A majority of the High Court, comprising Latham C.J., Starke, and McTiernan JJ., held that contributory negligence is indeed a defence to an action for breach of statutory duty, thereby overruling the previous High Court decision in *Bourke v. Butterfield & Lewis Ltd.*. This majority followed the decisions of the House of Lords in *Caswell v. Powell Duffryn Associated Collieries Ltd.* and *Lewis v. Denye*. The Court also held that, despite the plaintiff's inadvertence in placing his hand near the dangerous part of the machine, the trial judge was not justified in finding him guilty of contributory negligence, as the statutory duty was designed to protect against precisely this type of inadvertent conduct. Rich and Williams JJ. dissented on the latter point. The Court further affirmed the general principle that Australian courts should, as a rule, follow decisions of the House of Lords on matters of general legal principle where there is a clear conflict.

Consequently, the High Court allowed the appeal, set aside the judgment for the defendant, and remitted the case to the trial judge for the assessment of damages.