Duffy McGee Case Study - Immobilised in Intensive Care - Law Assignment Help

Assignment Task :

footnotes containing citations and references. It does include headings. 

Duffy McGee, halfback for the Northern Sydney Rugby League Club (‘NSRLC’), has long had an unfriendly rivalry with Broseph Shields, his opposite number at the Southern Sydney Rugby League Club (‘SSRLC’). Duffy’s hostility towards Broseph has recently been intensified by a series of snide posts made by Broseph’s girlfriend Tiffany on his wife’s Instagram page. ‘I’m gonna smash him,’ Duffy says of Broseph ahead of the annual Northern Sydney-Southern Sydney derby. 

In the lead-up to the match, Broseph experiences persistent low-level neck pain. He consults Dr Finn, the SSRLC team doctor. Dr Finn works for SSRLC two days a week and is also on hand at their games to provide medical assistance as required, typically sitting with the coaching staff while proudly wearing an SSRLC tracksuit. On other days, she sees private patients at her own surgery. Dr Finn examines Broseph and concludes that his symptoms are consistent with a relatively minor soft tissue injury. She prescribes anti-inflammatories and clears Broseph to play on the weekend. This would have been an appropriate course of action if Dr Finn’s diagnosis had been correct. However, Dr Finn’s diagnosis is mistaken. Broseph’s symptoms are in fact produced by (and are equally consistent with) a degenerative spinal condition of which Broseph is experiencing the early stages. An x-ray would have indicated the possible onset of this condition, likely resulting in Broseph being withdrawn from the matchday squad pending further investigation. Broseph’s pain continues to worsen before the match, but instead of going back to Dr Finn he incorrectly applies sports tape to his neck himself, placing additional strain on his spine. 

At the match, Duffy makes a beeline for Broseph while the latter is running with the ball, tackling him forcefully with a swinging arm to the head. Broseph is knocked out and crumples to the ground, suffering a neck fracture. The referee immediately awards a penalty to SSRLC pursuant to s 15.1 of the Rugby League Rules of the Game, which provides that: ‘A player is guilty of misconduct if he ... when effecting or attempting to effect a tackle makes contact with the head or neck of an opponent intentionally, recklessly or carelessly.’ 

Broseph remains unconscious on the ground until Dr Andre, a consultant doctor who is standing in for Dr Finn because the latter is ill, moves Broseph onto a stretcher. However, in his haste to remove Broseph from the field, a stressed Dr Andre neglects to fasten the straps designed to hold 

Broseph in place. As the stretcher is being carried past the player benches, its motion causes Broseph to roll off and hit his head on the corner of a chair. Broseph suffers a serious eye injury. 

Tiffany anxiously watches all of this unfold from the grandstand along with Broseph’s young son Miles. Broseph shares custody of Miles with his ex-wife Emma, to whom he continues to provide some financial support. Both Tiffany and Miles develop post-traumatic stress disorder (‘PTSD’) as a result of their ordeal. 

For Questions 1 through 4, assume that: (a) Broseph regains consciousness and is discharged from hospital after several weeks but is forced to retire from football immediately due to the ongoing effects of his neck injury; and (b) Broseph’s spinal condition would have continued to deteriorate even if the tackle had not occurred, forcing him to cease playing rugby league in six months’ time in any event. 

1. Duffy insists that the making of contact with Broseph’s neck was accidental. ‘Sure, I wanted to hit the dog hard,’ says Duffy, ‘but I wasn’t going for a shot to the head. These things happen – that’s footy.’ Is Duffy liable in battery for Broseph’s injuries? To the extent that Duffy is liable, is NSRLC also liable? (You may assume that Duffy is an employee of NSRLC.)  

2. Dr Finn rejects the proposition that she should have sent Broseph for an x-ray, on the basis that his degenerative spinal condition was unusual in a person of Broseph’s age, and that his symptoms were much more likely to have indicated soft tissue injury. Investigations suggest that some doctors would have been similarly dismissive of the more serious possibility, while some others would have considered an x-ray an appropriate precautionary measure. Is Dr Finn liable in tort for Broseph’s injuries? To the extent that Dr Finn is liable, is SSRLC also liable?  

3. Is either Duffy or Dr Finn liable in tort for the PTSD suffered by Tiffany or Miles? 

4. If more than one tortfeasor is liable for any of the injuries described, how would a court decide who was responsible for the relevant damages award? 

5. Assume, alternatively, that Broseph regains consciousness but remains immobilised in intensive care for a number of weeks before dying as a result of his neck injury. Discuss any action(s) that could be brought against any responsible tortfeasors.

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