RAA employee Susan Stoddard, hit in head with billiard ball, loses compensation case

An RAA employee who was struck on the head by a billiard ball in the lunch room last year is not entitled to any more compensation, the Employment Tribunal has ruled.

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A woman who was hit in the head with a billiard ball while working at the RAA has lost a legal challenge after she claimed the business improperly cut off her compensation payments.

Susan Stoddard was an insurance claims worker with the RAA in September last year when the incident happened at the business’s cafe.

She filed a compensation claim shortly after and went on paid leave while RAA assessed her case.

RAA made “interim” payments to her until December, when, after an assessment by a neurologist, they determined she was fit to return to work.

It accepted she was unable to work between September 29 and November 21 – and did not seek to reclaim any of the money paid to her after that.

But Ms Stoddard told the South Australian Employment Tribunal she suffered “post concussion syndrome” and required further payments because her own doctor deemed her “unfit for work”.

The tribunal in January ruled the payments should continue because there was proof of ongoing medical trouble.

But the RAA argued that it had simply stopped paying her “interim” payments – which are made when a decision is being determined – rather than actual compensation, so it had not contravened any rules.

In its latest determination on July 31, the tribunal found there was no power to extend the payments.

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