Mount Thorley Operations Pty Ltd v Farrugia [2020] NSWDC 798

Mount Thorley Operations Pty Ltd v Farrugia [2020] NSWDC 798

The redemption approved on 20 March 2001, for which the worker was paid $100,000, expressly covered injuries and incidents of injury arising out of or in the course of employment, including injury from the nature and conditions of employment and disease affecting all senses and organs of the body, except industrial deafness or disease of the lungs. Solar skin damage was appropriately described as a disease of the skin, and the skin is an organ of the body. The worker had been advised that the settlement covered all parts of his body apart from the stated exclusions. Accordingly, the employer's liability to make any payment in respect of the skin damage had been redeemed, and there was no...

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
03 September 2020
Procedural Posture
Civil Coal Miners Workers Compensation Proceeding / Plaintiff's Summons to Strike Out the Defendant's Application for Referral to a Medical Panel
Outcome
Application for Medical Panel struck out.
Legal Topics
['effect of Redemption' 'lump Sum Compensation' 'severe Bodily Disfigurement' 'solar Skin Damage' 'latent Injury' 'construction of Redemption and Release']
['workers Compensation' 'coal Miners Workers Compensation'] ['effect of Redemption' 'lump Sum Compensation' 'severe Bodily Disfigurement' 'solar Skin Damage' 'latent Injury' 'construction of Redemption and Release']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Civil Coal Miners Workers Compensation Proceeding / Plaintiff's Summons to Strike Out the Defendant's Application for Referral to a Medical Panel

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ["Whether the 20 March 2001 redemption redeemed the employer's liability for the worker's later claim for lump sum compensation for solar skin damage causing severe bodily disfigurement." 'Whether solar skin damage was within the injuries, diseases, senses or organs of the body covered by the redemption, despite the worker not being aware of it at the time.']

Ratio Decidendi

The redemption approved on 20 March 2001, for which the worker was paid $100,000, expressly covered injuries and incidents of injury arising out of or in the course of employment, including injury from the nature and conditions of employment and disease affecting all senses and organs of the body, except industrial deafness or disease of the lungs. Solar skin damage was appropriately described as a disease of the skin, and the skin is an organ of the body. The worker had been advised that the settlement covered all parts of his body apart from the stated exclusions. Accordingly, the employer's liability to make any payment in respect of the skin damage had been redeemed, and there was no...

Court Disposition

Application for Medical Panel struck out.

Orders

  • ['The application for a medical panel in matter number RJ200 of 2020 is struck out.']