Insurance worker’s compensation battle after being hit in head by billiard ball at work

An insurance worker who usually processes claims wants compo of her own after being struck in the head by a billiard ball at work.

Adelaide woman Susan Stoddard was paid compensation after she was hit in the head with a billiard ball while eating lunch at work last year.

An Adelaide insurance worker is locked in a battle for compensation after she was hit in the head by a billiard ball while on her lunch break.

Susan Stoddard says she was left with injuries so severe that she was unable to work after the September 2019 incident.

A judgment published by the South Australian Employment Tribunal reveals she was employed as a motor claims officer at the Royal Automobile Association (RAA) when the ball, from a nearby pool table, hit her temple area while she was eating at the Mile End site cafe.

She filed a claim for compensation later that day and received payments while she was assessed by multiple medical experts over the following months.

At the RAA’s request, she was examined by a neurologist, who stated in a report that Ms Stoddard had “full capacity for work”.

She was advised her payments would be cut in December; however, Ms Stoddard challenged that decision on the basis that she was certified “unfit for work” by her treating doctor.

She also provided a note from the Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre that stated she was suffering “post-concussion syndrome” and had ongoing symptoms of fatigue, sensory overload, memory impairment, dizziness and headaches.

In January of this year, the tribunal ruled the payments should continue because there was medical evidence in support of Ms Stoddard‘s argument that she was still not able to return to work.

The RAA then asked for a review of that decision and, most recently, the employment tribunal set aside the January ruling.

Tribunal president Justice Steven Dolphin found the commissioner who made the ruling did not have the authority to do so.