Roots v Trussmaster Pty Ltd

The case of Roots v Trussmaster Pty Ltd involved the first plaintiff, who was employed by the second plaintiff, a company, and subsequently employed by the defendant to operate a truck. The first plaintiff sustained a serious injury while engaged in loading timber frames onto the truck. The court was tasked with determining the appropriate measure of damages for the first plaintiff’s personal injuries, specifically focusing on the loss of earnings and earning capacity, and the expenses incurred due to the plaintiff's inability to work.

The central legal issue was whether the first plaintiff, having been previously engaged in manual labour, was entitled to compensation for the loss of income until retirement. The court had to consider the extent to which the injury rendered the plaintiff unfit for future work of the same kind and assess the method for determining the appropriate damages. The court also needed to determine if the expenses flowing from the plaintiff’s inability to work were reasonably foreseeable and whether they were too remote to be recoverable.

The court concluded that the first plaintiff was entitled to damages for loss of income until retirement, as the injury rendered him unfit for future work of the same kind. The court found that the expenses incurred due to the inability to work were directly related to the injury and were not too remote to be recoverable. The court assessed the damages based on the plaintiff's previous earnings and the likelihood of future employment. The court awarded the first plaintiff the sum of $360,936.46 and directed the defendant to pay the plaintiffs’ costs of and incidental to the proceedings, to be assessed including reserved costs.