Amaca Pty Limited (ACN 000 035 512) (Under NSW Administered Winding Up) v. Booth and Anor
Amaba Pty Limited (ACN 000 387 342) (Under NSW Administered Winding Up) v. Booth and Anor

Lower Court Judgment

10/12/2010 Supreme Court of New South Wales (Court of Appeal)
(Beazley JA, Giles JA, Basten JA)

[2010] NSWCA 344

Catchwords

Torts — Negligence — Causation — Dust diseases — Respondent ("Booth") suffers from mesothelioma contracted from asbestos inhalation in four domestic and employment periods — Third and fourth periods of exposure occurred while Booth worked with brake linings containing asbestos manufactured by applicants — Trial judge found each applicant responsible for 70 per cent of asbestos fibre to which Booth exposed in third and fourth periods — Evidence indicated incidence of mesothelioma increases in proportion to increased exposure to asbestos — Whether causation in asbestos cases can be established by reference to increased risk of developing mesothelioma.

Torts — Negligence — Causation — Dust diseases — Evidence — Expert evidence — Experts for Booth gave evidence that all exposure to asbestos of the type found in applicants' brake linings, other than trivial or minimal exposure, materially contributed to Booth's mesothelioma — Whether sufficient evidence for conclusion that each exposure to asbestos a contributory cause of the development of mesothelioma.

Short Particulars