Lee v Star Aged Living Limited
[2023] QSC 49 · Mellifont J
Nancy Lee worked as an assistant in nursing at a Beaudesert aged care home. In December 2015 she injured her lower back while moving residents without a slide sheet, suffering a serious spinal injury that required surgery and left her unable to return to work. She wanted to sue her former employer for damages, but she filed her claim well after the usual three-year time limit had passed. She asked the court to extend that time limit, arguing she only realised the full seriousness and value of her claim after later surgery and medical reports. The employer opposed the extension, saying important documents had been lost or destroyed and witnesses could no longer remember events, making a fair trial impossible. The judge found that key facts about Ms Lee's inability to work and the cause of her injuries only became clear to her later, and that the employer had not shown it would suffer significant prejudice. The court granted the extension, allowing Ms Lee's claim to proceed. The judge reserved the question of costs.
Incident & injury
Worker sustained a lumbar spine injury while moving residents without a slide sheet during a nursing shift
- Body regions
- Lumbar spine, Psychiatric, Abdominal (hernia)
- Diagnoses
- L4/5 disc protrusion causing cauda equina syndrome, Incisional hernia following corrective surgery, Adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depression, Sacral endplate fracture (complication of lumbar fusion)
- Incident date
- 19 December 2015
- Location
- Beaudesert, Queensland (Star Aged Living residential aged care facility)
Quick facts
- Date of judgment
- 10 March 2023
- Claim type
- WCRA Common Law
- Proceeding
- Interlocutory
- Plaintiff outcome
- Successful
- Plaintiff age at injury
- ~30 (inferred)
- Occupation
- Assistant in Nursing Community & Personal Service Worker
Outcome
The court granted the applicant's application under s 31 of the Limitation of Actions Act 1974 (Qld) to extend the limitation period for her workplace back injury claim, finding material facts of a decisive character were not within her means of knowledge until after the relevant date and that the employer had not established significant prejudice rendering a fair trial unlikely.
Defendant
1 Star Aged Living Limited
Employer
- Judgment against this defendant
- $0
Key issues
Lee v Star Aged Living Limited [2023] QSC 49
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