Apelu v Lusty Tip Trailers Pty Ltd
[2024] QCA 158 · Bond and Boddice JJA and Crowley J
A boilermaker was struck on the back of the head by a large metal hook in his employer's trailer workshop in January 2018, knocking him unconscious. He received workers' compensation for a head laceration and post-traumatic stress disorder, and was later diagnosed with schizophrenia, which the insurer treated as not work-related. When he sued his employer for damages, the employer admitted negligence but argued he could not claim for schizophrenia because the workers' compensation insurer had never formally assessed that condition. The worker argued his psychiatric injury was a single 'injury to the mind' covered by the assessment of his PTSD, or alternatively that schizophrenia was a secondary consequence of his other injuries. The Court of Appeal rejected both arguments and dismissed the appeal, finding that a separate notice of assessment was required for schizophrenia before damages could be claimed for it. The worker was ordered to pay the employer's costs. This was a procedural ruling about what injuries could be pursued, not a determination of the worker's damages.
Incident & injury
Worker struck on the back of the head by a large metal hook attached to a chain while working as a boilermaker, rendering him unconscious
- Body regions
- Psychiatric, Head, Cervical spine
- Diagnoses
- Laceration of scalp, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Schizophrenia (or chronic aggravation of pre-existing mild schizophrenia), Soft tissue neck strain
- Incident date
- 19 January 2018
- Location
- Respondent's trailer manufacturing workshop
Quick facts
- Date of judgment
- 30 August 2024
- Claim type
- WCRA Common Law
- Proceeding
- Appeal
- Plaintiff outcome
- Unsuccessful
- Plaintiff age at injury
- Occupation
- boilermaker Technician / Trade Worker
Outcome
The Court of Appeal dismissed the worker's appeal, holding that the second notice of assessment (for PTSD) did not also encompass his schizophrenia, which had not been assessed by the Medical Assessment Tribunal. As a result the worker remained precluded from pursuing damages for schizophrenia without a separate notice of assessment. The appellant was ordered to pay the respondent's costs.
Key issues
Apelu v Lusty Tip Trailers Pty Ltd [2024] QCA 158
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