CASE STUDY ONE 

Between April 2002 and September 2018, Madison was employed by a business called Jake’s Transport Services Pty Ltd as an assembly worker. Madison now seeks legal information about a possible claim against the business because of a serious injury she suffered while doing filling up some crates with fuse boxes as part of her work. Madison relays the facts of what happened below.

During August 2018 Madison claims she was working assembling fuse boxes. She says the system of work involved her placing an empty crate on top of another empty crate, and then as she finished assembling each fuse box, she would put the completed fuse boxes in the top crate. Eventually, she would place 125 to 150 completed fuse boxes in the top crate. When the crate was full, Madison was required to lift it up, put it on the floor and then put the other crate on top of the one that had just been filled.

During her shift on August 28, 2018 Madison claims that the supervising manager Jane told her that there were trolleys at the premises although she couldn’t immediately locate one that was free. If a trolley was available then an empty crate could be put on top of it, meaning there would be no need to lift a full crate at the completion of the task. Madison says, however, that on this particular day, despite trolleys being available on the premises, there were not enough trolleys for her to use. Madison claims that she did not have a trolley at the time she performed the work that gave rise to a spinal injury which now incapacitates her. Jane told Madison that the trolleys were all ‘full’. Madison says that after she suffered her injury, Jake’s Transport bought more trolleys upon which the crates could be placed.

Madison says that she had seen employees of Jake’s Transport doing the work she was doing during the previous three years. She had often seen other workers lifting the crates when they were filled without using a trolley. Sometimes one person would lift a crate. Sometimes two people would do it. Madison claims no direction was ever give before she was injured as to whether or not she should lift crates on her own. Madison also claims she saw many people doing this including other workers who were around 60 years old. As a result, Madison did not believe it was dangerous for her to lift the crates alone. Madison feels she was simply doing the job she was required to do; a job she had done many times before in the same manner.

Jake’s Transport argues that when she started to work for the company, Madison undertook a half day induction program and she has probably forgotten. The supervising manager Jane employed at the time of Madison’s injury could not recall other workers lifting crates alone.

Required:

Explain whether Madison is able to sue Jake’s Transport for negligence using case references to support your answer. Refer to the relevance of vicarious liability and any defences the company may raise against the claim as part of your response.