Ritchie Lowe takes former employer, Greenmountain Food Processing Pty Ltd, to court

A verdict awaits a rising Queensland rugby league player who has gone head-to-head in court with an Australian cattle company after a horror incident in a slaughterhouse.

A civil case which has pitted an Ipswich rugby league star against a local meat processing company has been adjourned to later this year as the man seeks a $750,000 payout.

The matter – centred around an injury sustained by Richie Lowe while working at a Greenmountain Group slaughterhouse – was adjourned on Thursday, August 4 after a number of witnesses were questioned, including Mr Lowe’s co-workers and employers.

The court previously heard the A-grade Queensland rugby league player was seeking $750,000 from his former employer, alleging the slaughterhouse’s negligence led to his finger being sliced open by an unguarded Thompson bandsaw, and the injury led to ongoing hand pain and strength issues.

Southern Suburbs Rugby League player Ritchie Lowe who used to play for North Ipswich Tigers. Picture: Southern Suburbs Rugby League/Facebook

On August 4, Greenmountain Group general manager Jason Giddens explained their workplace procedures and established they had terminated Mr Lowe’s employment in accordance with their company’s protocol on employee abandonment.

He said Greenmountain Group had reached out to Mr Lowe after his injury but received limited response, and they would have “most definitely” been open to redeploying Mr Lowe if he indicated he wanted to resume work.

Mr Lowe’s later employer at TP Elite Transport and Installation, Phillip Delandry, said Mr Lowe had not appeared to have any difficulty with physical tasks like heavy lifting while working for him last year.

He said Mr Lowe had suffered a sporting injury shortly before he stopped working for him, and Mr Lowe had texted him about the injury initially but gave “minimal reply” to his questions – “to a point where [he] started receiving crickets”.

Mr Delandry said he wasn’t aware Mr Lowe had issues with any other injuries.

Judge Horneman-Wren noted psychological records indicated Mr Low had experienced feelings of anger and low motivation after the injury to his finger in 2019.

He said doctor’s records from September 2019, however, indicated Mr Lowe had responded “not at all” to several questions about whether he felt irritable or angry.

Those medical records further stated Mr Lowe had been unable to ride a motorbike due to lack of strength in his fingers at the time and that he was told he would not be able to play rugby league again until 2021.

Judge Horneman-Wren said because those documents had been submitted late in the proceedings, Mr Lowe had not been cross-examined about them.

The matter was ultimately adjourned to November 18, 2022, for a decision.

Ritchie Lowe scoring for the Norths Tigers in his former teams' semi-final victory over Toowoomba Valleys during the 2020 reason. Picture: Bruce Clayton

Previously on August 2, the Ipswich District Court heard the former North Ipswich Tiger and current player at Southern Suburbs in Cairns was working for Greenmountain Food Processing Pty Ltd in 2019 when the incident occurred in a boning room.

The court heard Mr Lowe had been working for the company for less than a month before he was operating an unguarded Thompson bandsaw to cut pieces of cattle and calf carcasses.

Before using the fixed open saw blade, Mr Lowe was trained and signed off as competent.

The court heard the saw was notoriously dangerous within the industry, and although expensive blade stops can be purchased, the risk of injury still remains.

A mechanical engineer told the court the only way to mitigate the saw’s high injury risk was to purchase a blade stop but it would only reduce the severity of the injury.

At the time of the incident, Greenmountain Group did own two blade stops and purchased more following the incident.

The court heard Mr Lowe was later cleared by a doctor to return to work but he was still experiencing pain and difficulty on the job.

Greenmountain Group and its employers were aware Mr Lowe was unhappy following the incident and was seeking legal advice.

Greenmountain Group’s former risk and compliance officer Damien Porter started investigating the incident immediately, and recorded operational footage of the saw on his phone while Mr Lowe was being taken to hospital.

At the time, Mr Porter noted a lack of concentration contributed to the injury, however he did not witness the event.

Mr Porter told the court Mr Lowe ended up not showing up to work or calling in, so his job was terminated.

While working for TP Elite Transport and Installation the following year, surveillance footage was taken of Mr Lowe while he allegedly handled bulky items with his injured hand.

The court heard Mr Lowe could handle large items but had difficulty with smaller grip exercises such as grasping a bar.

The court heard despite his injury Mr Lowe was “one of the best” players in rugby league.

However, during cross examination, the modest halfback did not agree and noted he had to adjust his game play to accommodate his hand and said he could not do weight training in preparation for games.

Originally published as Ritchie Lowe takes former employer, Greenmountain Food Processing Pty Ltd, to court