Frasson v Frasson
[2020] QSC 171 · Crow J
John Frasson fell from a hay stack about 3.9 metres high on his family's farm at Clare in North Queensland in February 2016, suffering a burst fracture at the L1 vertebra that left him a paraplegic (assessed at 91% whole person impairment). He brought a personal injury claim against his father, Paolo, whose insurer QBE had appointed investigators.
This judgment did not decide the injury claim itself. Instead it resolved two procedural fights ahead of trial.
First, John wanted disclosure of unsigned witness statements the investigators had prepared. The court decided those unsigned statements formed part of the investigator's reports and had to be disclosed, though the solicitor's own file notes were protected by privilege.
Second, the defendant asked to move the trial from Rockhampton to Townsville because everyone lived near Townsville. The court agreed and transferred the case.
Incident & injury
Fell from a 3.9 metre hay stack while attempting to cover it with a tarpaulin
- Body regions
- Lumbar spine, Neurological
- Diagnoses
- Burst fracture at L1, Paraplegia
- Incident date
- 3 February 2016
- Location
- Clare, North Queensland (Clare Property)
Quick facts
- Date of judgment
- 12 June 2020
- Claim type
- PIPA Public Liability
- Proceeding
- Interlocutory
- Plaintiff outcome
- Successful
- Plaintiff age at injury
- ~50 (inferred)
- Occupation
- Not stated
Outcome
Interlocutory application dealing with disclosure and transfer of venue. The court ordered the defendant to disclose the unsigned statements of Paolo Frasson and Paul Young, holding they formed part of the investigator's reports and were not privileged, while file notes taken by the defendant's solicitor were privileged. The court also ordered the proceeding be transferred from Rockhampton to the Supreme Court at Townsville for the trial.
Defendant
1 Paolo Frasson
Occupier / individual defendant (insured by QBE Insurance (Australia) Ltd)
Key issues
Frasson v Frasson [2020] QSC 171
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Learn more about public liability claims in Queensland.