Symons v The Haggarty Group Pty Ltd

In Symons v The Haggarty Group Pty Ltd, the plaintiff, employed as a roofing plumber by the defendant, sustained a serious back injury while at work. The incident occurred when the plaintiff was using a scissor lift to transport sheets of corrugated metal roofing across a building site and onto the roof of a building. The plaintiff sought to establish that the defendant was negligent, contending that there were reasonably practicable means of avoiding the risk of injury, and that the defendant had failed to implement these measures. Additionally, the plaintiff argued that the defendant was liable for the plaintiff’s injuries despite contributory negligence on the plaintiff’s part.

The central legal issues before the court were whether the defendant owed a duty of care to the plaintiff, if there was a breach of that duty, and if the breach was a foreseeable cause of the plaintiff’s injury. Furthermore, the court had to determine whether the plaintiff had contributorily neglected themselves, and if so, to what extent this mitigated the defendant’s liability. The court also needed to consider the appropriate measure of damages for the plaintiff's personal injuries, taking into account the plaintiff's pre-existing conditions and the degree of impairment sustained.

The court found that the defendant was indeed negligent in failing to provide a reasonably safe working environment. It was determined that the risk of injury could have been mitigated through the implementation of certain safety measures, which the defendant failed to adopt. The court also found that the plaintiff had contributed to the injury, albeit to a lesser extent, by not adhering to safety protocols. Consequently, the court assessed the damages for the plaintiff’s 20-25% whole person impairment, considering the pre-existing knee injury and heart condition, and concluded that the appropriate amount of future economic loss was $326,743.95.

The court ordered that the defendant pay the plaintiff the sum of $326,743.95, reflecting the damages awarded for the plaintiff's personal injuries, adjusted for the contributory negligence on the plaintiff's part.