Top chef sues for horrific car crash injuries killed his glittering career
Queensland’s most decorated chef is suing two Brisbane motorists and their insurer for $2 million, claiming they were at fault for two car smashes that have cut his illustrious career short and turned him into an angry, crippled man.
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Queensland’s most decorated chef is suing two Brisbane motorists and their insurer for $2 million claiming they were at fault for two car smashes that have cut his illustrious career short and turned him into an angry, crippled man.
Romain Lucien Auguste Bapst, 63, a French chef from Bardon, claims in his negligence suit filed in Brisbane Supreme Court that the first crash, at Riverhills in Brisbane’s southwest in July 2017, triggered angry outbursts and irritability due to a major depressive disorder, causing him to take his frustrations out on staff at Lutece Bistro in Bardon.
“There has been an increase in staff turnover in the business,” Mr Bapst’s claim states.
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Mr Bapst claims that since that accident he has been unable to work as a chef or restaurant owner, because he has been in daily pain and has had nerve blocks and spinal fusion surgery in a bid to reduce his pain.
Mr Bapst also claims that he was left with an acceleration/deceleration injury to his spine, and aggravation of dengerative spinal change after a Nissan Pulsar driven by Teale Jak Levy allegedly negligently crashed into him while turning across the path of his car on Sumners Rd at Riverhills.
While he was recovering from the July 2017 accident, in August 2018 he was rear-ended on the Western Freeway in Fig Tree Pocket by Mazda driver David James Alcock, according to his claim.
Mr Bapst claims Mr Alcock was driving negligently, alleging he was speeding and failed to keep a proper lookout to notice that Mr Bapst’s BMW with “LECHEF” registration plates, was slowing down.
This crash is alleged to have aggravated the injuries caused in his collision with Mr Levy as well as tearing the meniscus in his right knee, leaving him unable to work, even as a supervisor to chefs due to his lack of mobility.
He had knee replacement surgery in May and still has trouble with standing and walking, crouching and bending, lifting and carrying light loads and twisting his torso, he states in his claim.
Mr Bapst claims he has been a chef for all of his working life and is not qualified for a job in a new field, or physically able to perform one.
He had planned to work until he was 70 until he was crippled by the two crashes, court documents state.
He is claiming damages of $1,916,987 including a discounted loss to reflect underlying degeneration in his back and knees.
But in its defence filed in court, insurer Allianz Australia denies Mr Bapst has suffered a major depressive disorder, arguing it is not supported by medical evidence.
Allianz argues that Mr Bapst may have instead developed an adjustment disorder.
Allianz argues Mr Bapst has a long history of pre-existing injuries and illnesses – including hip replacements and knee and spine degradation – which are the sole cause of Mr Bapst’s pain and loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of income.
Allianz admits Mr Bapst may have suffered an acceleration or deceleration injury in his spine in the first crash, and may have aggravated it in the second crash, but argues these injuries were minor and temporary.
The insurer also claims that Mr Bapst’s knee tear was not caused by the second crash but was pre-existing and was detected in MRI scans done in 2010.
Mr Bapst has worked in Australia for the past 40 years starting at top Melbourne restaurant Mietta’s, then to Hamilton Island, then establishment hangout Pruniers at Woollahra in Sydney, and then to Brisbane at Il Centro, Drift and Broadwater.
No hearing date has been set.
