It Pays to Think About Causation in Negligence Actions

Several higher court decisions in 2012 have highlighted the importance of considering the crucial ingredient in negligence actions – causation.

The Court of Appeal's decision in New South Wales v Mikhael [2012] NSWCA 338 (Mikhael) is one such case. In Mikhael, the plaintiff, a student, had been seriously assaulted by another student (T) at a state high school after class. There were warning signs about T's violent behaviour: he had assaulted another student six weeks earlier and had had an argument with the plaintiff just before class had ended. The teacher on duty was not aware of the prior assault. The plaintiff argued the defendant breached its duty of care by failing to provide teachers with information as to the student's propensity to violence, which would have alerted them to apply techniques to avert such incidents.