Torts Case study

Eliza and Thomas own a restaurant called Heart of the City. The restaurant is well known for its good service and the view overlooking Sydney harbour. It is very popular, and it is also used as a function centre for weddings, birthday parties and conference dinners. This weekend the restaurant is fully booked so they asked Laurie and Colleen, the young trainees, to come and work on Saturday as extra staff were needed. It was really busy, all tables were occupied, and people are still waiting to come in. Laurie was assigned to mop the floor in the passageway in case water spills while the waitresses are doing their job of refilling water, serving hot beverages etc. Colleen was carrying two jugs of water, but she was walking so fast that one of the jugs spilt water in the passageway. She could not see Laurie for Laurie to come and mop it immediately. Laurie was in the bathroom and when he came back, he didn't know that the floor was wet. Colleen was so busy she forgot to tell Laurie about the wet floor. Ana one of the customers was walking towards the door to answer an urgent call when she slipped on the wet floor, at the same time Elaine another waitress is walking past carrying a pot of hot water when Ana suddenly hit her, and she spilt the hot water on Janice who is sitting on the first table. Janice received minor burns, she was checked and treated with first aid and was recommended to go to emergency to get one burn checked and properly dressed. Ana fell badly and hit the floor hard as she was wearing high heel shoes. Ana had an existing back injury which was aggravated, and she incurred a number of fractures to her ankle and foot. The ambulance was called, and she was rushed to the closest hospital. Ana could not put weight on her foot for 6 weeks and was in a moon boot or another 10 weeks. Ana could not work for two months due to her back and foot injuries.

The following day the restaurant was booked for a 21^st birthday celebration. The menu was really amazing, and chefs received lots of compliments on the night. Elizabeth a former hospitality college classmate of Eliza was one of the guests. At College Eliza and Elizabeth had a small argument and Elizabeth has been jealous on how the business of the couple has been growing and is so successful. Elizabeth ordered a steak. When it was served to her she was not happy because it came a bit late and it wasn't cooked according to what she requested. She commented her dissatisfaction to her friend. The friend is an avid restaurant review commenter. She wrote a bad review about the restaurant. She claimed that the restaurant did not meet customer expectations and served poor quality food; customer service is very poor; waitresses are slow and not very friendly and that customers do not get value for money and this restaurant is too expensive for a simple steak that wasn't cooked properly. The review went viral. That same day one of the managers received a phone call from a customer canceling their reservation after reading the viral bad review.

The day after the birthday function they also received a letter from one of the neighbours who was complaining about the loud music coming from the restaurant. They said that they could not sleep because of the high noise level going late into the night and they are going to sue the restaurant. That evening the restaurant decided to leave all windows open for ventilation not aware that the birthday celebrants requested their DJ to play hard rock music.

Questions

1. What is a tort? Define and explain the term.
2. How many types of torts are featured in this case study? List, name and describe all the torts in this case study.
3. What is 'duty of care? What tort is associated with duty of care?
4. Were there breaches of 'duty of care in this case study? Explain your answer.
5. What is vicarious liability? Provide example/s of vicarious liability from this case study.
6. List and briefly describe: A) General defences in Torts. B) Remedies available to those who have suffered a tort.
7. Can Eliza and Thomas do anything about the restaurant review that went viral? What remedy and damages can they seek?
8. What tort are the neighbours using when they want to sue Eliza and Thomas for the loud music? Do you think the neighbour's case is strong?

note:

• Support the responses to the case study questions with reference to relevant secondary sources based on Australian government law