June 8th, 2011
Author: Nicole Lythall
The Factual Background
The Plaintiff worked as a medical sales representative at the Defendant’s premises at Cleveland. Those premises were divided into a number of work stations or cubicles. The Plaintiff’s work station comprised a partitioned area containing a desk and a chair on castors. The partition wall on her left hand side had a number of overhead shelves while the partition wall on her right hand side had a map attached to it.
When the Plaintiff first commenced work, the chair was positioned on the carpeted floor. However, some weeks after commencing employment, plastic mats were provided by the Defendant and placed under the chair in each work station.
The Plaintiff was planning a sales trip on the day in question. She stood up from her chair to retrieve a book from the top shelf on the left hand side of her work station then turned to look at the map on the right hand side of the work station. As she commenced to sit back down, she found the chair wasn’t there and fell to the floor fracturing her sacrum.
In addition, the Plaintiff claimed to have developed a secondary psychiatric/psychological injury.
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April 27th, 2011
Author: Charles Hartley
On 5th April 2011 Coroner John Hutton delivered his findings following an inquest into the death of baby Samara Lee Hoy who died shortly after birth on 8th November 2008 at John Flynn Private Hospital (“JFH”), a private hospital on the Gold Coast run by Ramsay Health Care.
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April 13th, 2011
Author: Cindy Badke
In this article Cindy Badke takes a look at The District Court decision, Scarr v Australian Sugar Cane Feeds Pty Ltd and how it raises issues of causation, negligence and trivial risk. His Honor Robertson, DCJ, had to decide whether circumstantial evidence was enough to satisfy the Plaintiff’s onus of proving negligence on the balance of probabilities.
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April 13th, 2011
FILE NOTE
Author: Jim Tealby
Date: 12 April 2011
Re: Lusk & Anor v Sapwell [2011] QCA 59
Lusk & Anor –v- Sapwell [2011] QCA 59
Decision of the Court of Appeal delivered on 1 April 2011. See our discussion of the primary judgement delivered 15 September 2010 here.
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March 9th, 2011
Recent Decision – Miles v Brisbane City Council [2010] QDC 501
Author: Elizabeth O’Connor
We have previously reported on cases of employees injured during the course of employment through the criminal acts of third parties (see our article on Sapwell v Lusk [2010] QSC 344). This class of case is now becoming more and more common and this causes concern for employers who will now wonder just how far they must go to keep their workers safe from criminal activity.
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March 9th, 2011
Author: Charles Hartley
There has been considerable debate in recent years about the scope of documentation and information disclosable by respondents under Section 27 of PIPA. However, there has been rather less debate on the issue of exactly who can give disclosure of information on behalf of a company or corporate entity.
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December 15th, 2010
Author: Jim Tealby
Delivered 15 September 2010
The Factual Background
The Plaintiff was employed as an optical technician in a pleasant neighbourhood strip shopping area at Rosalie. The Plaintiff was often there on her own during working hours which were 10.00am to 6.00pm Tuesday to Friday. While there were security measures in place to protect the shop overnight, no particular security measures were in place to protect the safety of employees of the shop during the daytime. Cash of up to about $500.00 or $600.00 was kept on the premises during the day in an unlocked drawer.
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December 15th, 2010
Author: Melanie Thorley
Date: 30 November 2010
Case Name: Barns v Parlin
Barns v Parlin Pty Ltd & Ors [2010] WADC 92
This case was heard in the District Court, Perth by Justice Yeats.
Facts:
Barns was engulfed by fire and suffered burns on 60% of his body. At the time he was working as a driller’s offsider at Barrick Gold’s Plutonic Gold Mine site. He was an employee of ChoiceOne, his services were hired by Parlin trading as Drill Power. Drill Power was engaged in drilling at the Mine site.
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December 8th, 2010
Bruce Thomas Lawyers is a fast growing and very busy boutique firm providing specialised insurance legal services to insurers, employers, self-insurers and statutory corporations throughout Queensland.
We are currently seeking a 2 – 3 years PAE Lawyer to work closely with a partner of the firm to form a team servicing 2 of the firm’s major clients. The firm is renowned for remunerating its people well with a generous bonus system in place. We are looking for a lawyer who possesses excellent technical skills and is highly motivated.
Please submit your CV and references to sl@btlawyers.com.au
December 3rd, 2010
With the festive season now upon us Christie Elssmann and Charles Hartley take a light hearted look at the remarkable case of Brady v Woolworths Ltd which finally concluded recently after several interlocutory hearings.
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