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Safe Police Work
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Melanie Younis, Lawyer
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A shop keeper was stabbed in the chest during an armed robbery. The crime scene was attended by the plaintiff, who was a police officer and her partner, Senior Constable Evans. At the scene, the plaintiff assisted a doctor who had been called to treat the victim. Senior Constable Evans left to attend to other matters and did not return.
Although the victim eventually recovered, the wounds he sustained were serious. The plaintiff tried to stem the flow of blood and hold the victim’s wounds together. She comforted the victim, who asked her to pass on final messages to his wife and family.
The plaintiff developed post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the incident and brought a claim against her employer for common law damages. The plaintiff alleged that her employer had breached its duty to take reasonable care for her safety and implement a safe system of work. Most of the case turned on whether it was reasonable for Senior Constable Evans to have left the plaintiff alone with the doctor and the victim.
The plaintiff was successful at first instance with the New South Wales Supreme Court awarding her almost $470,000 in damages.
The employer appealed all the way to the High Court. In a 4:3 majority the High Court ruled that the plaintiff had failed to establish that her employer had breached its duty of care.
The majority of the Court found that it was not reasonable, given the nature of the job, to require police officers to stay with their “buddy” at all times. The judges considered that an obligation requiring police officers to remain together would create tension between an officer’s ability to effectively carry out their duties at a crime scene and the need to protect a fellow officer. Further, the plaintiff could not expect her fellow officers to stay with her at all times. The majority of the Court considered that the system of work implemented by the employer was not deficient: State of New South Wales v Fahy.
FURTHER ENQUIRIES
