Strong v Woolworths Limited t/as Big W & Anor [2012]
HCA 5
In this case the High Court clarified the test necessary
to establish factual causation as contemplated by s5D of the Civil
Liability Act 2002 (NSW). It has general application to proof of
causation in all jurisdictions.
Facts
On 24 September 2004 at approximately 12.30 pm Strong, a right
leg amputee who was dependant on crutches, was looking at plants in
a sidewalk sales area (the "Area") outside Big W (a shop
operated by Woolworths) at the Centro Taree Shopping Centre when
her crutch slipped on grease deposited by a chip which had been
spilled on the floor causing her to fall and suffer injury.
The Area was in the vicinity of a food court and thus it was
foreseeable that people consuming food would move through the area.
It was conceded that spillages of food such as hot chips would
render the floor dangerously slippery.
