Former aged care worker Melisa Corona awarded certificate for economic loss after serious injury

A Geelong woman has walked away with a certificate for economic loss after suffering severe injuries at an aged care centre in the region.

A woman who suffered serious injuries after a shift at a Geelong aged care centre will be awarded damages for economic loss.

Melisa Corona, 53, has won out over the Victorian Workcover Authority and was granted a certificate for pain and suffering and loss of earning capacity by the Victorian County Court.

In December 2017, Ms Corona was attending to a resident at Brentwood Aged Care who had slid down the bed during the night.

With another worker, Ms Corona moved the resident back up to the head of the bed, causing some pain in her lower back.

Melisa Corona was assisting a resident in one of the Brentwood Aged Care beds when she sustained her injuries. Source: Google Maps.

Over the next few days, Ms Corona suffered pain down her right leg and into her foot that developed into severe back pain and eventually meant she needed a nerve root injection and later surgery.

Ms Corona had to establish to the court she had a loss of earning capacity of 40 per cent or more and the relevant loss of earning capacity was likely to continue permanently after the hearing.

Although she moved into administrative duties at the Latrobe Terr aged care centre, Ms Corona told the court she had to take some time off “in response to what she described as an attempt by the manager to have her return to showering duties”.

In February this year, Ms Corona began working as a mental health support worker but found the required 18 hours of work a week was unsustainable, despite attempts to change medication.

A counsel on behalf of the Victorian Workcover Authority argued Ms Corona had the capacity for full time work hours and, if not full time, more than the 14 hours she claimed she was working in a fortnight.

Having considered the evidence however, Judge Philip Ginnane was satisfied Ms Corona is limited to 14 hours of work a week and “this is permanent in the sense that it is likely to prevail”.

“It is also appropriate to express I am satisfied that (Ms Corona) has proved that she does not presently possess and will not have the capacity for full time hours and that this situation is permanent.

“Neither am I satisfied that a capacity for a return to full time hours in her job or in suitable employment will be likely to be achieved through a progressive work hardening,” Judge Ginnane said.

Originally published as Former aged care worker Melisa Corona awarded certificate for economic loss after serious injury