Case Summary

Who is liable if a worker returns to the workplace after work hours and injures themselves? Do employers have a duty of care to their workers in these instances? The answer will depend on the facts of each case. In the decision of Walker v Greenmountain Food Processing Pty Ltd, handed down on 29 October […]

Ms Robertson (the Plaintiff) was an endorsed enrolled Nurse (EEN) at the Gold Coast Hospital who alleged that her colleagues – most of whom were registered nurses (RNs) – had badgered, bullied and mobbed her at work during 2011 and 2012. The Plaintiff claimed that this caused her a psychiatric injury and consequent loss of

All parties bear a risk when a matter is taken to trial. Each party believes the Court will accept their version but the final result can never please all parties. For every winner, there is a loser. Legal principles are generally fairly well established. Personal injuries cases normally turn on particular facts and the interpretation

In the recent Cairns District Court decision of Armstrong-Waters v State of Queensland [2020] QDC 66 Judge Morzone QC DCJ found that the employer had breached its duty of care to its employee Mr Armstrong-Waters, a 53 year old male registered nurse, who claimed damages for a psychiatric injury and minor physical injuries after an

I recently had a matter in which a worker claimed damages for a food allergy caused by exposure to that particular food as part of a manufacturing process involving that ingredient. Although the concept of the allergy was relatively new to science, the allergy was medically accepted. If the worker ingested the particular food, he

On the advice of Mullins, WorkCover Queensland referred a worker pursuing a common law damages claim to the Workers’ Compensation Regulator (the Regulator) for fraud. Recently the worker pleaded guilty to several offences, received a conviction and deferred prison sentence, and was ordered to repay significant costs to both WorkCover Queensland and the Regulator. The

An injury suffered by a teacher using a rope swing on a school excursion was found not compensable in the recent case of Geraldine Glass v Workers Compensation Regulator [2020] ICQ 001. The teacher (Geraldine Glass) accompanied her students to Vanuatu on a school trip, which had been approved by the International Travel and Advisory

In the recent decision of Tait v Goondiwindi Regional Council [2019] QDC 208, Judge Jarro DCJ found the Goondiwindi Regional Council (the Council) breached its duty of care by failing to adequately warn road users of dangerous road conditions on a floodway. Ms Tait was injured in a motorcycle accident on 25 September 2016. She

The biggest battle in relation to peanut butter in Australia in the last 12 months hasn’t been the polarising question of whether crunchy is better than smooth.

Connective Services Pty Ltd recently tested the scope of the prohibition in s260A of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (the Act) in the High Court, and lost. That section stops a company giving financial assistance to assist a person acquire the company’s shares. The case illustrates how broadly this prohibition can apply. Connective was not making a