Stephenson v Toms & Anor and Stephenson v Morabito & Ors

Stephenson v Toms & Anor and Stephenson v Morabito & Ors concerned appeals from a decision of the District Court of New South Wales regarding damages awarded to the plaintiff following a motor vehicle accident. The plaintiff had been involved in multiple accidents, and the central dispute revolved around the extent to which the plaintiff's ongoing suffering and impairment were attributable to the accident in question, as opposed to a pre-existing spinal degenerative disease or other incidents.

The primary legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the trial judge had erred in finding that a significant portion of the plaintiff's suffering was due to the degenerative disease rather than the accident, and whether the trial judge was correct in concluding that the plaintiff had failed to establish a significant impairment to their ability to lead a normal life, as required by section 79 of the *Motor Accidents Act 1988* (NSW).

Mason P and Sheller JA held that the trial judge's findings were entirely open on the evidence presented. The court applied principles of causation and assessment of damages in negligence, particularly in the context of multiple contributing factors to a plaintiff's injuries. The judges found no error in the trial judge's assessment of the evidence, which led to the conclusion that the plaintiff had not discharged the onus of proving that the accident was the cause of the extent of suffering and impairment claimed.

Consequently, the appeals were dismissed, and the plaintiff was ordered to pay the costs of the appeals.