A unanimous High Court decision last week has found that neither the NSW Government nor the Great Lakes Shire Council owed a duty of care to a man who contracted hepatitis A from eating oysters from Wallis Lake.

The decision has caused a stir in legal circles, with some lawyers claiming the decision is evidence of a “hard line” being taken by the courts against plaintiffs in negligence suits.

Greg Ryan brought the class action suit on behalf of many hundreds of people who were also affected by the diseased oysters. But in a joint judgment, Justices William Gummow and Kenneth Hayne said that at no time did the council exercise “exclusive control” over the oysters or over the commercial activities of any oyster grower in the Wallis Lake area.