Ackers v Cairns Regional Council
[2021] QSC 342 · Henry J
Paul Ackers was the supervisor of the payroll unit at Cairns Regional Council. After three experienced staff went on extended sick leave in 2015, his unit was badly understaffed and he worked very long hours, sometimes through the night, to keep employees paid on time. When errors inevitably crept into the unit's work, the Council blamed Mr Ackers personally and put him on a performance improvement plan, with one manager telling him there was 'no coming back' and that another manager had wanted him sacked. Mr Ackers, who had a mild pre-existing depression, developed a serious major depressive illness with anxiety, a tremor and a stutter, and has been unable to work since September 2015. The court found the Council knew there was a foreseeable risk of psychiatric injury from 9 July 2015 and breached its duty by pursuing the performance plan unfairly and in bad faith. The court awarded him about $1.1 million in damages.
Incident & injury
Workplace psychiatric injury caused by excessive workload due to inadequate staffing, union complaint investigation, and imposition of a Performance Improvement Action Plan in bad faith by employer
Read the findings as text
- Understaffed unit. Long hours, then blamed.
- Breach from 9 July 2015. Plan pursued in bad faith.
- $1,099,133 awarded. [2021] QSC 342.
- Body regions
- Psychiatric
- Diagnoses
- Major Depressive Disorder, Generalised Anxiety Disorder, Aggravation of pre-existing persistent depressive (dysthymic) disorder, Tremor (right arm), Stutter
- Incident date
- 9 July 2015
- Location
- Cairns, Queensland (Cairns Regional Council, Spence Street)
Quick facts
- Date of judgment
- 15 December 2021
- Claim type
- WCRA Common Law
- Proceeding
- Trial
- Plaintiff outcome
- Successful
- Plaintiff age at injury
- 45
- Occupation
- Payroll supervisor (supervisor of Council's payroll unit) Manager
- Liability
- Disputed
- ISV assessed
- 30 · Serious mental disorder (WCRR Schedule 9)
- Total damages
- $1,099,133 86th percentile · WCRA Common Law matters (n=29)
Outcome
Judgment for the plaintiff against the Council in the sum of $1,099,132.69. The court found Council breached its duty of care from 9 July 2015 (when risk of psychiatric injury became foreseeable) by imposing and pursuing a Performance Improvement Action Plan in bad faith and failing to adequately staff the payroll unit, causing the plaintiff's major depressive illness.
Defendant
1 Cairns Regional Council
Employer
- Apportionment
- 100%
- Judgment against this defendant
- $1,099,133
- WorkCover refund
- $176,915
Heads of damage
| General damages | $53,000 |
|---|---|
| Past economic loss | $395,030 |
| Interest on past EL | $3,925 |
| Past superannuation | $61,403 |
| Future loss of economic capacity | $451,266 |
| Future superannuation | $75,822 |
| Past care (Griffiths v Kerkemeyer) | $1,500 |
| Past special damages (plaintiff) | $164,000 |
| Interest on past special damages | $2,257 |
| Future special damages | $67,845 |
| Subtotal before refunds | $1,276,048 |
Key issues
Ackers v Cairns Regional Council [2021] QSC 342
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