Tortfeasor
A person or entity that has committed a civil wrong (a tort) and is therefore potentially liable in damages.
What it means in practice.
In personal-injury practice, the tortfeasor is the at-fault party, the driver, the property owner, the employer, the manufacturer, whose conduct gives rise to the claim.
A tortfeasor is the person or business that committed the wrong, the tort, that caused the injury: the driver who ran the light, the employer with the unsafe system, the owner of the dog that attacked.
Often there is more than one. Joint or concurrent tortfeasors can each be liable to the injured person, and the court then decides how the burden is shared between them. In Queensland that sharing is called contribution.
Employers are commonly liable for the torts of their workers. In the NSW case of Bartlett, the builder was sued as the employer of an unidentified co-worker, and the case turned on whether that co-worker had been negligent at all.
How it works, step by step.
| Decision | The tortfeasors and how the burden was shared | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Singleton v Direct Personnel (Qld 2025) | Labour hire employer and host business both liable; the host was ordered to contribute 75% of the judgment against the employer. | Singleton v Direct Personnel Services [2025] QSC 259 |
| De Martin & Gasparini v Bartlett (NSW 2025) | At trial, liability was split 90% to the builder and 10% to the workers compensation insurer; the appeal was allowed. | De Martin & Gasparini v Bartlett [2025] NSWCA 56 |
| Morga v. FedEx (N.M. 2018) | Fault split 65% to FedEx, 30% to its contractors and driver, 5% to the injured driver. | Morga v. FedEx Ground Package System (N.M. Ct. App. 2018) |
| Delaney v Federation Council (NSW 2025) | The council was liable to a child hurt at a public pool, and the pool operator must indemnify it. | Delaney v Federation Council [2025] NSWDC 141 |
| Hardy v Eclipse K9 (NSW 2024) | The owner of a dog that attacked a motorcyclist was liable under s 25 of the Companion Animals Act 1998. | Hardy v Eclipse K9 Security [2024] NSWDC 602 |
A worked example.
Sharing the bill: Singleton v Direct Personnel Services (Qld 2025)
- Injury
- L4/5 disc protrusion lifting a fibreglass spiral off a mould; later surgery
- Judgment against the employer
- $433,056.28
- Judgment against the host business
- $490,429.05
- WorkCover refund included in each
- $81,276.60
- Contribution from host to employer
- $324,792.21, 75%
The worker was placed by a labour hire company at the host’s workplace. Both were found negligent; the court then ordered the host to bear three quarters of the employer’s judgment.
Singleton v Direct Personnel Services Pty Ltd & Anor [2025] QSC 259