Question
Fruit Heaven was a small factory in Victoria. It was owned by Mr. John and was specialized in making tomato sauce. Like many other workers,
Fruit Heaven was a small factory in Victoria. It was owned by Mr. John and was specialized in making tomato sauce. Like many other workers, Mr. Tim had been working for the factory for many years. On 14 March 2020, his wife, Mrs Agresta, visited him when he was at work. Mrs Agresta's visit was reported to and permitted by Mr. John. It was a common practice that family members of the workers at times may come to help prepare lunch, clean the floor, or wash tomatoes.The first step in the sauce-making operation was the washing and cutting of the tomatoes. After being placed in large baskets, the tomatoes were put in a mincing machine. It was the practice for the men of the factory to use the machine. Although Mrs Agresta had seen it being used over a period of 15 years, Mrs Agresta had never herself operated the machine.Towards the end of the operations, Pat was operating the machine when he was called to go elsewhere. He asked Mrs Agresta to take over the operation of the machine, to deal with the remaining tomatoes.She commenced to put tomatoes in the machine in the way that she had seen that done in the past, that is, by putting the tomatoes in the hopper of the machine without letting her hands go inside it. She did this for about 10 to 15 minutes until she was distracted by a question from her husband as to whether the quantity of sauce in a particular bottle was sufficient. Mrs Agresta said that she probably turned away from the machine to respond to the question. In any event, at that point she accidentally allowed her left hand to go down into the hopper. She was severely injured by the cutting elements of the machine. The tops of her middle and ring fingers on her left hand were amputated to the first joint and she lost the pads of her index and little fingers on that hand.Bn giMrs Agresta said she could not see the blade in the machine because it was covered by tomatoes but she knew something in the machine was crushing the tomatoes and she consciously knew that if she put her hand in the machine she could be hurt. She said one has to look and concentrate when using the machine because it is dangerous. She said she was distracted and must have just taken her concentration from the machine when she looked at her husband.Witnessing the accident, Mr. Jonh immediately asked Ben, a worker of the factory, to drive Mrs Agresta to the hospital. Even though Ben in fact knew how to drive and many times he had driven the company vans around the factory to load or unload goods, he had never had a driving license. Mr. John knew that, but he still requested Ben to use the company's car to bring Mrs Agresta to the hospital. At first Ben refused to do that but since no one at the place at the time knew driving (the company driver was on sick leave on that day), he reluctantly followed Mr. John's request. In a hurry to bring Mrs Agresta to the hospital and because of the inexperience, Ben exceeded the speed limit. He hit a light pole and the car turned upside down. Ben was injured on his head and Mrs Agresta suffered a broken leg. The car was also seriously damaged.
REQUIRED:
Please discuss all relevant legal issues raised in the Team Paper Question (regardless of whether these relevant legal issues are successful or not). Please also discuss the defence(s), if any, that a party may raise. Where relevant, discuss parties' contractual rights and obligations.
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