Case Study: Negligence, Australian Consumer Law, and Legal Liability

This case study analyzes two scenarios: one involving negligence in a workplace accident and the other concerning misleading advertising by a local organic shop. The first case examines the tort law of negligence, focusing on duty of care, breach of duty, causation, and damage, using the example of an accident caused by a poorly lit loading dock and a deaf individual. The second case delves into the Australian Consumer Law, specifically addressing the issue of a shop falsely claiming to sell organic and fresh produce. It highlights the role of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in protecting consumers from deceptive practices and ensuring fair trading, referencing relevant legal provisions and case examples. The document concludes by emphasizing the legal liabilities and the importance of adhering to consumer protection laws.

SHORT CASE STUDY

Table of Contents
QUESTION 1...................................................................................................................................3
Issue............................................................................................................................................3
Rule ............................................................................................................................................3
Application..................................................................................................................................3
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................4
Question 2........................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

QUESTION 1
Issue
The major issue in the case study was the exit of Opal Ltd loading dock was via a poorly
lit alley which was present in between two buildings. This alley crossed in a footpath before
entering in main street and because of this drivers and pedestrians have difficulty in seeing one
another coming from different side. For this it was advised to Opal Ltd to put a sign board near
the end of alley stating ‘drivers must sound horn.’ In addition to this it was also advised to the
company to put convex mirror on the side walls of alley so that drivers can check the other side
but this was very expensive. In the end unfortunately Quinlin who was deaf did not hear the horn
by Phil and his truck injured Quinlin badly.
Rule
The rule in this case is the Tort law of negligence and the negligence occurs when one
party fails to take a reasonable action to try to avoid the damage caused to other person
(Kyriakakis and et.al., 2019). In the present case as well Phil can see Quinlin coming from other
side and blow horn but then also did not stopped the truck and hit him. The tort law of
negligence states that there are different factors which need to be satisfied for suing for
negligence and these are duty of care, breach of duty, causation and damage. In this case duty of
care was harmed as Phil could have avoid this situation by stopping the truck.
Application
The recent case of negligence is of NSW court of appeal considered who has been
blamed for collapsing from balcony. In this case Bhides owned a residential property and
appointed Libra to manage property. Once a group of children were in balcony and it collapsed.
There was long history of complaints relating to structure of balcony but they did not notice. In
the end court held that contractual indemnity can be excused where there is contribution to
negligence of other party (What is the Tort of Negligence? 2020). Hence, in the present case as
well Phil did notice Quinlin coming from other side and even if after blowing horn also he was
not moving then it was duty of Phil to stop the truck.

Conclusion
In the end it can be said that Opal Ltd or Phil are liable for the negligence caused to
Quinlin as the person has got injured because of negligence of Phil. Thus, they will have to
compensate to the injured person for their negligence.
Question 2
Issue: ‘Fresh and Organic’ a local shop which sells 100% organic vegetables. A disgruntled
employee of the local shop has informed the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
(ACCC) that, vegetables and fruits sold at the shop are not organic and fresh as claimed in local
newspapers. At the time of investigation conducted by ACCC, it has been revealed that, almost
30 percent of the fruits are frozen for some duration before they re sold. It has been investigated
that, chemical fertilizers and pesticides has been used for the certain type of vegetables.
Rule: Australian Consumer Law is considered to be as a national law which aims to focus on
protecting the consumers and also ensuring fair trading within Australia. A national law tends to
focus on guaranteeing the consumer rights at the time of buying goods and services. Another key
provision of the Australian Consumer Law is to comply with the product safety law (Pearson,
2017). The Australian Consumer Law is considered to be significant in effectively setting out
the consumer rights which are also referred to as the consumer guarantee.
Application: The application of this Australian Consumer Law is considered to be useful in
protecting the customers from any sort of deceptive and misleading information at the time of
advertisement. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has to take appropriate
action and ensures no such information has been advertised in the local newspaper (Bianchi,
2018). Another significant case study is that, a media firm has been approached by the
investment company which in turn tends to claim to have successful investment model in order
to share it with the public. The media firm has significantly decided to promote and support the
investment model and also inspire viewers to invest. However, the media company has made
numerous set of claims on this program associated with investment model and founders were
also found to be false. However, in this specific case both investment and marketing company
has been found to breach the trade practice act, 1974 which is the provision of Australian
Consumer Law.

Conclusion: It has been concluded that, ‘Fresh and Organic’ a shop must not advertise
misleading information in the local newspaper. They have to pay stipulated amount of penalty as
prescribed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission because of making
default. However, it has been summarized that, every company must comply with the provision
of the Australian Consumer Law in order to carry out business in an ethical and lawful manner
without making any default.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bianchi, L., 2018. Consumer law: Changes to Australian consumer law: Key benefits for
vulnerable consumers. LSJ: Law Society of NSW Journal. (50). p.71.
Kyriakakis, J., and et.al., 2019. Contemporary Australian tort law. Cambridge University Press.
Pearson, G., 2017. Further challenges for Australian consumer law. In Consumer Law and
Socioeconomic Development (pp. 287-305). Springer, Cham.
Online
What is the Tort of Negligence? 2020. [Online]. Available through: <
https://etheringtons.com.au/what-is-the-tort-of-negligence/#:~:text=Negligence%20occurs
%20when%20one%20fails,to%20successfully%20sue%20for%20negligence.>