Bundaberg truckie sues Woolworths and Toll Transport for millions

A Bundaberg truck driver is suing the supermarket giant and a large transport company for more than $4m over a workplace injury he suffered in 2020.

Bundaberg truck driver sues Woolworths and Toll transport in multi-million dollar Supreme court case. NewsWire Photos MAY 10 2024. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Max Mason-Hubers

A Bundaberg truckie is suing a supermarket giant as part of a $4m lawsuit over an alleged workplace injury

Michael Edward Rice, 44, alleges he sustained injuries to his spine, head, and neck while assisting a Woolworths employee in Biloela.

Mr Rice is now suing Woolworths and his employer Toll Transport Ltd for almost $5m in damages as he alleges the injuries left him with constant pain and trauma.

Court documents submitted by Mr Rice’s legal team, Payne Butler Lang, allege the injuries sustained in the incident were a result of combined negligence of Toll transport and Woolworths, and would not have occurred if reasonable precaution had been taken.

Upon arriving at the Biloela Woolworths loading dock for a freight delivery on July 16, 2020, Mr Rice assisted in unloading the truck’s trailer.

In order to unload the freight, Mr Rice had to open the trailer doors of the truck and remove the ‘pogo stick’ restraining rods.

Once the trailer doors had been opened, Mr Rice alleges the freight had shifted in transit and caused the rearmost pallet to obstruct the pogo stick.

Mr Rice instructed the Woolworths employee to retrieve a walk-behind stacker to remove the pallet to allow access to the pogo stick.

The plaintiff’s team allege the employee instead used the tynes to dislodge the pogo stick, causing it to strike Mr Rice on the head without warning.

The court files list a number of injuries suffered by Mr Rice, including a head injury, concussion, acute disc prolapse at C6-7; facial injuries including a left-side maxillary fracture, and dental injuries including multiple broken teeth.

Mr Rice alleges that since sustaining the injuries in 2020, he continues to suffer from chronic neck pain, headaches, bilateral hand, arm and leg weakness, numbness, in addition to psychiatric episodes of anxiety, intrusive thoughts and hypervigilance.

Mr Rice claims he took time off immediately after the incident, but experienced exacerbated neck, shoulder and head pain when he returned eight weeks later.

The pain has kept him from returning to work since.

Both Woolworths Group and Toll Transport claim Mr Rice had a pre-existing spinal condition prior to the July 2020 incident, which they claim undermines the truck drivers claim.

They also took issue with details surrounding the incident and whether, Mr Rice, or, in the case of Toll Transport, the Woolworths employee were more culpable for the injuries sustained.

Originally published as Bundaberg truckie sues Woolworths and Toll Transport for millions