North shore council ordered to pay woman $283,000 over slip on mulch slope

Salman agreed during proceedings she was not looking at the ground as she walked, but said she assumed the two surfaces were level

Salman also ascribed significant weight gain to her injury. But during cross-examination, she was presented with evidence her weight had not changed between medical appointments in October 2019 and August 2021. She then told the court she had tried to lose weight, but the accident had “prevented her from pursuing that particular endeavour”.

https://i.ibb.co/LvqnRkB/e9c98d7abba16f8c3246c983f1eb6b78aec5a6b5.jpg

Amazing payout for a rolled ankle -
I've done that plenty of times.

But - it went all the way to the  NSW Court of Appeal.   :o


https://headtopics.com/au/north-shore-council-ordered-to-pay-woman-283-000-over-slip-54882826


Kathie Beatrice Salman successfully sued a Sydney council after she rolled her ankle while moving from a bark surface to spongy rubber in a children’s playground.

A woman who tripped in a Sydney playground has been awarded $280,000 in damages – plus costs – after Hornsby Shire Council failed to have the verdict overturned.

District Court judge Alister Abadee last year found the council owed Salman a duty of care to avoid a foreseeable risk of injury, and failed to take reasonable precautions – such as topping up the mulch. Hornsby Shire Council appealed on eight grounds. But in a judgment on Thursday, the NSW Court of Appeal ruled two-to-one in Salman’s favour and dismissed the appeal, ordering the council to cover Salman’s costs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MQc6pFDRTY

Rockhampton East Street Mall in the 1990s had these tiles paving the area that would get so slippery, it would be difficult to walk around the area without slipping at least once after rain. Nobody sued the council over this, to my knowledge. But, after numerous complaints, the council had to AGAIN redevelop the mall to make it partially accessible to traffic. Now, the entire mall is accessible to traffic.

This is why for quite a few decades there were no 'play parks' around because of the Councils having to fork out for lawsuits.
Then we saw a comeback with a new style of play parks - but if there are more and more of these 'Law Suers' - expect these play parks to be torn down.

How can an ankle - even if its broken, gain the cost of over $280,000?

In New Zealand, they have the best way to deal with 'money grubbers'. If she had done that in NZ, she wouldn't be able to take action for 'money' in the pocket. All that she would get is to costs of Medical expenses covered in regards to her condition. That way, she hasn't got the money in the pocket to buy more Crispy Creme donuts and trips to the 'all you can eat fatty' restaurants.

We need that sort of system here, not just for play-parks, but for all those who take a fall in Woolworths or anywhere else, like Compos - where people injure themselves on weekend football or whatever activity, sneak into work injured and then take a soccer-dive to claim Compo, etc. It's a common thing, I've seen co-workers do it.

No money in the pocket or bank account - just Medical expenses covered. As it should be.

She's a fatty-boom-bah who isn't good on her pins and she fell over from a tiny change in levels and is getting 283k. Oh well, tax payer loses, KFC/Maccas gains.

Gordon wrote on Jun 28^th, 2024 at 5:45pm:

She's a fatty-boom-bah who isn't good on her pins and she fell over from a tiny change in levels and is getting 283k. Oh well, tax payer loses, KFC/Maccas gains.

Some people in the USA are professionals at it.
They make a good living from law suits.

Falling over in shops is the favourite one.