Townsville chef awarded $397k after suffering injury at Glendale Aged Care

A Townsville chef who injured herself and suffered “screaming pain” while on the job at a local aged care facility has been awarded a huge payout. See why the judge ruled in her favour.

Townsville Courthouse. Picture: Shae Beplate.

A Townsville chef who suffered “screaming pain” and injury at work has been awarded almost $400,000 in damages, after taking her North Queensland aged care employer to court.

Court documents state the woman had been working as a self-employed chef at Glendale Aged Care at Dalrymple Rd, Mount Louisa.

The woman, then aged 54, had worked at the company, owned by Glendale RV Syndication Pty Ltd from August 16, 2016 to January 5, 2017.

On that date, the woman was loading stainless-steel trays into the shelves of a steamer oven, at shoulder or head height when she felt the “screaming pain” in her left shoulder, which was so severe she had to leave to see her doctor.

She was prescribed pain medication, referred to physiotherapy and took a week off work – but the injury affected her such that she had to resign.

The woman had been loading and unloading stainless steel trays filled with food when she was injured. Photo: Supplied

The documents state that depending on the day, the steamer ovens would be loaded with various trays (up to 12 to 15 trays per meal), each containing a variety of weights, including as much as 6.4kg and as light as 435g.

The trays would then need to be unloaded from the oven and loaded into the “distribution containers” to take to the dining areas.

Court documents state the woman claimed the company had breached its duty of care to protect her from a risk of injury that the company “know or ought reasonably to have known existed”.

She alleged that she was required to perform manual tasks that were “difficult to do, tiring, awkward and characterised by ‘repetitive movement’ and ‘repetitive force”.

In giving evidence, the woman told the court that she had previously injured her shoulder 15 years ago but had no ongoing symptoms.

She also acknowledged she had previous issues with carpal tunnel in her right hand, and had in 2017 had an AC joint extension and arthroscopy in her left shoulder, as well as ongoing chiropractic treatment for a back injury suffered when she was 23 years old.

The woman could not work after her injury, court document state.

It was stated that the woman had reported her developing symptoms to her supervisor and another employee in the days or weeks before the incident, but had continued to work.

Counsel for Glendale argued her claim be dismissed on the basis her injury was not foreseeable and therefore her injuries were not caused by any negligence on their part.

“(Glendale) relies here upon the lack of disclosure by (the woman) in the employment application, to neck and lower back pain which was being treated by regular chiropractic attendances, as well as carpal tunnel syndrome,” the documents stated.

It was further argued that any injury to the woman’s left shoulder was not “caused or contributed” by the work, but rather her “degenerative, pre-existing nature of (her) left shoulder“ or her arthritis.

Judge John Coker acknowledged there had been no intention by the woman to mislead her employer, and said whether the company had “actual knowledge” of the risk of injury to the woman’s shoulder was not clear.

“It would seem that there is evidence placed solely on the fact that the (woman) did not, it is suggested, make full disclosure to (the company),” he wrote.

“However, that fails to at all appreciate the inherent risk in the task required and no risk assessment seems to have been undertaken; the risk was apparent from the work being performed by the (woman) and should have been obvious.”

He found the company was liable and ordered a total judgment of $397,952.93 be paid to the woman.

Originally published as Townsville chef awarded $397k after suffering injury at Glendale Aged Care