1. Consider the whether Andrew, Sam and Tony owe a duty of care to Kent. Use Case Laws and elements to establish duty of care 2. Discuss whether Andrew and Kent can claim for the emotional trauma they have suffered. Use case laws
On 7 January 2021, Andrew began operating his newly established liquor store in Jaybury. Andrew grew up in Jaybury and always dreamt of setting up his own liquor store. Jaybury is located in the poorer part of the town and is known for its robberies and violence. In order to safeguard his investment, Andrew installed security doors whereby potential customers were viewed before a button was pressed below the counter to allow customers into the liquor store. Andrew employed Tony to operate the till as well as the security door. Tony was from the more affluent neighborhood of Hemsworth and was a bit unfamiliar with the daily occurrences in Jaybury. Andrew briefed Tony on how to operate and set the security door on manual mode. This would enable Tony to press a button to open and close the doors. On 19 January 2021, while at the beginning of his shift, Tony decided to keep the door on automatic mode as he was getting tired of pressing the button every few minutes on his 7 hour shift. While attending to a customer who wanted to purchase a 91' Merlot, two persons entered armed with baseball bats. Tony was immediately struck over the head and he fainted. The customer (Mr. Kent) tried to intervene but was violently shoved, fell and dislocated his shoulder. The robbers made away with a few bottles of rum and approximately $998.00 from the till. Sam, who was an off-duty detective, was also at the back of the store seeing the new range of German beers that were on special. Sam, who was armed with his service pistol, did not intervene as he was off-duty and just wanted to get home and enjoy his beers. Sam witnessed the entire event and witnessed the robbers even enter the store. Mr. Kent now requires surgery to re-set his shoulder which will involve a bolt and plate insertion. He appears apprehensive and in a state of shock since the incident. Andrew who has since seen the CCTV footage has been diagnosed with anxiety as a result of what happened in his store. 1. Consider the whether Andrew, Sam and Tony owe a duty of care to Kent. 2. Discuss whether Andrew and Kent can claim for the emotional trauma they have suffered