Smith v The Council of Trinity Grammar School [2021] NSWSC 1592 (on Caselaw).
The plaintiff filed a statement of claim some 40 years following his alleged abuse in 1981 at the school by the school master. A complaint was first made after about 36 years, by which stage the alleged perpetrator had died. Some other persons who may have given relevant evidence had also died or could not be located.
The claimed alleged breach of duty on the part of the defendant and vicarious liability for the school master.
None of Master’s diaries had been located by the school. The school held no prior records in relation to any alleged sexual assaults in relation to the Master.
The primary judge noted at [165] that it is not just the alleged sexual assaults committed by (the Master) that are in issue in these proceedings. It is also whether the School should be held vicariously liable for the actions of (him) and/or whether the School owed the plaintiff a non-delegable duty of care. Further at [167], the School had to meet the allegation that (the Master) and the School were part of a common enterprise involving the education and care of students and the sexual abuse occurred in the course of that enterprise.
At [189] the primary judge concluded that despite making extensive enquires, the School is unable to meaningfully deal with the claim and a continuation of the proceedings would be unjustifiably oppressive and manifestly unfair to the defendant.
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