Court considers employment capacity when multiple injuries affect worker's duties
The County Court of Victoria recently dealt with a case where a worker argued that a transport accident had seriously aggravated his existing workplace injuries.
The worker claimed this led to additional surgeries, increased pain, and ultimately affected his ability to work in a specially created role at his family business.
The case explored how subsequent injuries could compound pre-existing workplace conditions, raising important questions about distinguishing between different types of injuries and their impacts on employment capacity.
In March 2014, while working at his family's meat business, the worker suffered an injury when he fell backwards from a stepladder in a cool room. The incident resulted in a concussion and neck injury that required ongoing pain management. Despite these injuries, he returned to work the next day, though his hours were reduced to 12 per week.
The effects of the workplace injury required extensive treatment over several years. By June 2016, the worker needed his first surgery - a cervical fusion. After this procedure, he stopped working completely for an extended period.
Medical records prior to May 2018 showed the worker had reported pain in both his cervical and lumbar spine. He later settled his workplace injury claim in October 2019 for more than $500,000, while retaining his statutory benefits.
The situation changed after a transport accident in May 2018. The treating general practitioner documented the progression of injuries: "[The worker] has a long history of lumbar back pain and symptoms of nerve compression dating at least to December 1997. However following the same accident where a box hit his head and right shoulder, (19/03/2014), he has had a significant exacerbation of this pain."
The accident significantly affected the worker's daily functioning. The treating neurosurgeon and spinal surgeon noted: "[The worker's] social life is severely disrupted due to a combination of sitting and standing intolerance, severity of pain, medication side effects and concerns about re-injury."
The worker required ongoing medical treatment and pain management following the transport accident.
In September 2022, nearly four years after the transport accident, the worker's family created a special Quality Assurance position that allowed him to work approximately 20 hours weekly. This arrangement demonstrated some capacity for work, albeit in a highly modified role.
However, this employment arrangement lasted only seven months. After undergoing another surgery in April 2023 - a C6-7 cervical spinal fusion - the worker could not return to work at the family business.
The Transport Accident Commission acknowledged that medical evidence indicated the worker had no current work capacity.
The treating neurosurgeon and spinal surgeon's medical assessment highlighted the deterioration in the worker's condition: "Since the subject transport accident, the effects of his symptoms on his social, domestic, and recreational activities have increased significantly, and his quality of life has diminished even further."
The treating general practitioner provided additional context about the ongoing impacts: "[The worker] experiences chronic neck pain. It worsened post car accident, but has settled back to his post-surgical level."
The medical evidence indicated that the worker required surgery that "had not been foreshadowed or recommended before the transport accident."
The Court ultimately determined that "When these facts are assessed as a whole, I am satisfied the aggravation is a serious aggravation in that it is very considerable and more than significant or marked and is long term."
