Law :rights and liabilities Case Study

QUESTION 1 (30 marks)

Ms Craig was born on 1 January 1984.

On 1 January 2014 Ms Craig was admitted to the Private Hospital as a private patient and underwent an elective sterilisation procedure which was performed by Dr Denton, gynaecologist that day (the procedure). During the procedure, Dr Denton failed to properly clamp Ms Craig’s fallopian tubes with the filshie clips so that they became sealed and eventually severed, to ensure sterilisation.

After the procedure, Ms Craig became pregnant with her fourth child, Rachel born on 1 March 2016 via caesarean section. Rachel was born healthy with no disabilities. Ms Craig suffered a postoperative complication of the caesarean section, as a result of which she was unable to work for four weeks and experienced great pain.

Ms Craig was diagnosed with chronic depression in April 2016, caused by the shock associated with an unexpected and unwanted birth, her pregnancy with Rachel, and the complications from the caesarean delivery.

From 1 April 2016 to 1 March 2017 Ms Craig did not work as she was rearing Rachel and took maternity leave. With her first three children, Ms Craig resumed her pre-injury job working full-time when each child turned one month of age.

In April 2017, Ms Craig’s partner, Avery Craig, died, while driving to work at Industrial Designs Co. A sign that had been installed above the highway by Tilburg Council, fell on Avery’s car, killing Avery instantly. An expert report has subsequently found that the sign was installed poorly by the contractor, XYZ Highway Gear, the year before, with incorrect fastenings being used. Tilburg Council routinely inspects all signs on the highway but their employee failed to pick up on this mistake at their inspection in January 2017.

Ms Craig’s depression worsened after Avery’s death. Due to the depression, Ms Craig has continued to be unable to return to work at all.

She also requires 3 hours per week of domestic assistance.

Ms Craig was earning $5,000 net week working full-time as a project manager for 10 years before Rachel was born.

Advise all parties as to rights and liabilities in tort.

QUESTION 2 (30 marks)

Two uni students, Stephen and Guy, go to the pub to celebrate the end of their exams. They go downstairs to the bottom level, and since it’s only 3pm, they have the entire floor to themselves. They both drink several drinks and become intoxicated. They get into a heated argument about a very technical issue in Torts law, and Guy hits Stephen in the stomach. Angry, Stephen says, “If you do that again, I will lock you in that storage room over there,” and he points at a door called “Storage.” Still angry, Guy hits Stephen in the stomach again, and Stephen grabs Guy, drags him 5m across the floor of the pub, and then, still holding onto Stephen, opens the door with “Storage” on it, pushes Stephen inside, and slams the door. The door has no lock on it, so Guy drags over a chair and uses it to block the door. Inside, Stephen shouts, “Let me out!” but Guy ignores him, goes upstairs and runs out of the pub. Guy goes through the pub door and, not looking where he is going, runs onto the road. Unfortunately, Stacey is driving past at that time, and she hits Guy, injuring him badly. Stacey is also intoxicated at the time of the accident, with her blood alcohol 3 times the legal limit. When Guy’s mum sees Guy’s injuries at the hospital later that night, she experiences extreme shock and when she is examined three months later by a psychiatrist, is found to have PTSD.

Stephen shouts “Let me out!” for a few more minutes but since the bottom floor is empty, nobody answers. Panicking, Stephen notices a window near the ceiling of the storage room. It is clearly broken and has a sign sticky-taped across it that states “Broken glass, do not touch.” Stephen stacks some boxes in front of the window, stands on the stack, which starts to wobble, tears off the sign and starts to push himself carefully through the window. Unfortunately, the pile of boxes collapses and he falls heavily on the broken glass, injuring himself badly. He slides onto the floor of the storeroom and waits for rescue. He is rescued an hour later. He has an anxiety disorder and being trapped inside the store-room triggers a panic attack, and Stephen misses his next semester of uni while recovering. He needs to see a psychiatrist twice per week for 15 weeks.

Advise all parties as to rights and liabilities in tort.