Hewison v Meridian Shipping Pte and Ors (The "Flex Installer") - Court of Appeal (Ward, Tuckey and Clarke LJJ) - 11 December 2002

Damages - Claimant crane operator claiming damages for future loss of earnings resulting from personal injuries caused by defendants’ negligence and breach of duty - Claimant deceived employers by fraudulently misrepresenting that he did not suffer from epilepsy - Whether claimant debarred by public policy from recovering future loss of earning

The claimant suffered serious personal injuries while employed by the first defendant as an AB/crane operator on the cable-laying vessel Flex Installer which was owned by the third defendant and chartered to the second defendant. The defendants admitted liability in negligence and breach of statutory duty under the Employers Liability (Defective Equipment) Act 1969. One of the heads of damages was loss of earnings calculated on the basis that but for the accident the claimant would have continued to work as a seaman/crane operator until his normal retirement age of about 62. He was 35 years of age when the accident occurred. The defendants contended that it would be contrary to public policy to award damages on that basis because an essential part of the claimant’s case that but for the accident he would have continued to earn money as a crane operator was that he would have continued to deceive his employers by fraudulently misrepresenting that he was not suffering from epilepsy, as he had in the past. The agreed medical evidence was that if the accident had not taken place it was 80% likely that the claimant would remain free from epileptic fits for the remainder of his life, and 20% likely that he would not.