Group Discussion Problems
Evening Lectures
Group A
Behrens Benzano & Associates
Mr James Alton was admitted for abdominal surgery for which he duly
consented. While he was under general anesthetic, his surgeon Dr Admas
noticed a sebaceous cyst on the top of his head. Mr Alton is bald and the so Dr
Adams decided to do him a favour and get rid of the unsightly cyst. He removed
it without incident. In the recovery ward, Mr Alton was incensed when he
discovered what had happened. His cyst had apparently been the source of
many a free pint of ale. He habitually wore a bowler hat and it had been his habit
to place a second, tiny bowler hat on top of the sebaceous cyst itself. Whenever
he removed his hat at the local pub to expose the tiny bowler underneath, sitting
on the cyst, this invariably caused general amusement and free shouts of beer.
Mr Alton was upset at the loss of the cyst, his one major social asset.
Mr Alton has been advised that since he did not suffer any “real damage” he
can hardly expect to succeed in a tort action against Dr Adams. Mr Alton
seeks advice.
Group B
Cochrane Goswami & Associates
On April 1 this year, David, a senior police constable, decided to make an 'April
Fool' out of his childhood friend, Mason, who lives on a small property in Dural
near Sydney. He thus rang Mason early in the morning. He missed Mason who
had taken the children to a campsite some ten kilometres away. David
nonetheless decided to go on with his 'April Fools' plan. He told Mason's wife,
Judy, that a group of "Bikies", called the Blistering Barnacles, had invaded and
taken control of the five-kilometre outlet linking their property with the Old
Northern Road. He also told Judy that this was the result of a gang war between
the Barnacles and the Meat Mincers, another group, and that she should stay
indoors because the gangs were using firearms and some innocent people had
already been caught in their cross fire.
Judy immediately locked herself in; but when she remembered that Mason and
the children were already on the Old Northern Road on their way to the
campsite, she became very terrified and extremely distressed after trying
unsuccessfully for several times to reach Mason on his mobile phone. Even
though Mason arrived two hours later (having stopped to do some shopping)
and explained that there was no trouble on the roads, Judy did not recover her
distressed condition. Her local GP subsequently diagnosed her as suffering from
stressed induced anxiety. Judy is thinking of bringing an action against David.
Judy seeks your advice
Group C
The Horn Horton Group
David Thomson is a police officer. On April 20, while on duty with the NSW
police-breathalysing unit on the Pacific Highway in Saint Leonards, he directed
Miss Jones to the kerb to stop her vehicle to be breathalysed. While parking, Miss
Jones accidentally drove over Officer Thomson’s foot. He immediately yelled out:
“get off my foot, you idiot”. Miss Jones replied “F… you, you can wait”. Officer
Thomson yelled out several times for Miss Jones to drive the car off his foot.
After 6 minutes, Miss Jones finally complied. While his foot hurt initially, Officer
Thomson’s GP has advised him that an x-ray of his foot does not indicate any
damage.
Officer Thomson seeks your advice as to whether he can bring any action
against Miss Jones.
Group D
Racca Reed Reynolds
In December 2013 Mrs Allambie enrolled her son David in the local Day Care
Centre. As part of the enrolment process, Mrs Allambie accepted to pay the
weekly fee of $200, payable cumulatively at the end of each month. The Centre’s
record indicates that while Mrs Jones paid for December 2013, she has not made
any more payments since. In March 2014, the Centre wrote to Mrs Allambie to
advise that unless she paid the outstanding fees, David will not be allowed to
continue at the Centre any longer. Mrs Allambie promised to pay all outstanding
fees at the end of March., but failed to do so. In April 2014, the Centre’s Director
wrote to Mrs Allambie to advise that unless she paid the outstanding invoices
immediately the Centre would ‘have no choice but to refer the matter to a debt
collection agency’. Mrs Allambie did not respond to the letter. The Centre did
not discontinue David enrolment. By May 20 the outstanding invoices had still
not been paid.
On the morning of May 21, Mrs Allambie dropped off David at the Centre at the
usual time of 8am. She was advised that the Director would ‘like to have a word’
with her. But Mrs Allambie replied that she was running late for work and could
not see the Director. At 5 pm when she returned to the Centre to collect David,
a staff member advised her that the Director had instructed that David could not
leave the Centre premises until Mrs Allambie had paid the outstanding invoices
or made suitable arrangements with the Director to pay. Mrs Allambie was told
that she would need to talk to the Director personally; but that the Director was
at meeting with other parents and so she would need to wait.
Mrs Allambie could see David playing with other children in the Centre’s
Playroom unaware of her presence. When she tried to gain access into the room,
a staff member stood passively in the doorway and would not let her in. After
waiting for approximately one hour, Mrs Allambie met with the Director. It was
agreed that Mrs Allambie would settle the invoice the following morning. She
took David home.
Mrs Allambie is ‘outraged’ by the conduct of the Centre; she is considering
possible legal action. She seeks your advice.