Rix (claimant/respondent) –v- Paramount Shopfitting Company Ltd (defendant/appellant)
Thursday 24th June 2021
The Defendant (D) appeals paragraphs 1 & 2 of the order of Cavanagh J dated 7 September 2020 following his judgment of the same date in respect of a preliminary issue whereby the Judge concluded the Claimant (C) has suffered a loss of financial dependency and quantified the annual value of her financial dependency over various periods starting on 21 April 2016 onwards.
C is the widow of Martin Rix who died on 21 April 2016 aged 60 from an asbestos related mesothelioma, contracted when exposed to asbestos while working for the D in the 1970s. D admitted liability and judgment was entered in C’s favour on 31 October 2019. At the time of Mr Rix’s death, he ran a successful company (MRER Ltd), a family business. C was a Director and shareholder. The claim was brought under the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisons) Act 1934 and the Fatal Accidents Act 1976. D argued below that C had no financial dependency as the family business was more profitable since Mr Rix’s death and that each of C’s 2 methods of quantification were misconceived.
D submits the award based on putative annual financial losses is removed from actual financial loss sustained by C and made on a basis contradicted by authorities on which the Judge purported to rely.
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