Surveillance footage, videos and photos of an injured worker washing his car, playing the guitar and performing other activities he claims he struggled to do, did not prove he had the capacity to return to work, a court has ruled.
In an environment where the findings of workers' compensation medical panels are facing increasing legal challenges, an appeals court - referring to a High Court judgment - has affirmed that applicants can't "overzealously" scrutinise panel reports to challenge their reasoning.
A former Manus Island detention centre worker has failed to show his employer is liable for his recurring kidney stones, which he claims were caused by not being able to maintain his gluten-free diet on the island, or remain hydrated when he was in isolation with gastro.
A worker injured by s-xual harassment has won her appeal against her low damages award of $10,000, with a superior court describing the amount as "derisory" in an important decision on what constitutes serious harassment.
A worker seeking common law damages has proved her employer breached its safety duties to her during her post-injury return to work, but failed to show any breach caused or worsened her condition.
A major clothing retailer had a system for lightening trolleys but failed to enforce it, negligently allowing workers to choose their own method of loading and unloading them while under pressure to meet quotas, a superior court has found.
A psychologically injured worker has been awarded $1.73 million in damages, after a court rejected evidence from his former employer about events at a hotel during a work trip, which led to his dismissal.
An employer might have provided workers with safety stools to help them reach high objects, but the pace of the work and the scarceness of the stools meant they couldn't be used practically, a court has found in awarding a worker more than $800,000 in damages for a manual handling injury.
Workers do not need to exhibit obvious signs of distress or vulnerability for the risk of psychological injury to be foreseeable and enliven the duty to take measures, an appeals court has found in a workload case examining an important High Court judgment.
