Mrs Lesley Cheng, the plaintiff, was walking through Eastgate Shopping Centre in Bondi Junction when she suffered a heavy fall in a common area after tripping over a “services cover”. The cover protected the electrical supply from a floor power outlet.
CCTV footage of the incident showed that Mrs Cheng was not looking at the ground where she was walking. When she did look in the direction she was travelling, she appeared to be looking into the distance and briefly glanced to the right rather than observing the floor ahead.
The court considered whether Mrs Cheng’s fall was partly the result of her own failure to take reasonable care for her safety. In assessing this, the judge applied the standard of what a reasonable person in Mrs Cheng’s position would have done, taking into account what she knew or ought reasonably to have known at the time.
The judge found that a reasonable person would have been looking where they were walking when turning the corner. If Mrs Cheng had been watching the path ahead of her, she likely would have seen the services cover and avoided the fall. As a result, the court determined that Mrs Cheng had failed to take reasonable care for her own safety and was therefore contributorily negligent. Her damages were reduced by 25%.
Mrs Cheng was awarded $64,320 for non-economic loss, $1,000 for past out-of-pocket expenses, $6,000 for future out-of-pocket expenses, and $25,000 for past economic loss, bringing the total to $96,320. After applying the 25% reduction for contributory negligence, the final amount awarded to Mrs Cheng was $72,240.
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