Australian Survivor competitor sues Endemol Shine for negligence following ankle injury
Pro surfer and Australian Survivor: Champions vs Contenders competitor Ross Clarke-Jones is suing Endemol Shine Australia, the producers of the reality program, for negligence after an ankle injury he suffered during filming ‘totally incapacitated’ him.
Clarke-Jones competed in the sixth season of Australian Survivor and was medically evacuated after 28 days following a fall from a challenge course. Clarke-Jones injured his right ankle in the incident and is suing the producers for past and future lost earnings, medical expenses and the $500,000 prize money he could have won if he had been able to continue competing on Australian Survivor.
According to court documents seen by Mumbrella, Clarke-Jones is arguing that a rope which was in place to aid contestants in swinging from one platform to another snapped during his use of it. This breached the duty of care Endemol Shine had over the contestants, according to Clarke-Jones’ claim.
Other details of the agreements between contestants and the production company were included in the documents – Clarke-Jones was paid $25,000 for his appearance on the program with the contract agreeing that he would have limited access to friends and family during filming, but be provided with nutritional resources and camp necessities.
Clarke-Jones says he paid for his return airfare home from Fiji, where the show is filmed, and hotel expenses related to his departure, but has had those reimbursements from Endemol Shine.
Cited in the documents were the relevant laws relating to the case in Fiji. It isn’t yet clear how the location of filming will impact the case. Arnold, Thomas & Becker are the solicitors acting on behalf of Clarke-Jones.
