Sandstone DMC Pty Limited & Anor v Trajkovski & Anor

Sandstone DMC Pty Limited and another appealed to the New South Wales Court of Appeal against a judgment of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The dispute concerned the vicarious liability of the appellants, a nightclub owner and licensee, for the actions of a security officer who assaulted the first respondent after removing him from the nightclub premises.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the security officer's assault on the first respondent occurred within the scope of his employment, thereby rendering the appellants vicariously liable for the respondent's injuries. This required the court to consider the principles governing vicarious liability in the context of an employee's actions that, while potentially unauthorised, were closely connected to their authorised duties.

The Court of Appeal applied the principles established in *New South Wales v Lepore* (2003) 212 CLR 511. The court reasoned that the security officer's actions, although constituting an assault and therefore an unauthorised act, were so closely connected with the performance of his duties of removing the first respondent from the premises that they could be considered to be within the scope of his employment for the purposes of vicarious liability. The court found that the assault was not a mere personal act unrelated to the employment but rather an unlawful mode of carrying out an authorised task.

The appeal was dismissed with costs, meaning the appellants were ordered to pay the costs of both respondents.