Injured planner awarded costs in compensation appeal
A former Commonwealth Bank financial planner will have her compensation claim for an injury sustained at a motel following a team meeting reassessed following an appeal.
Antoinette Galluzzo, fell down the stairs at the Country Comfort Motel, Wagga Wagga, from the first floor to the ground floor, on 19 December 2002, injuring her right shoulder, knee, hip and leg, while at the motel for a work-related meeting. However, she did not submit a claim form in respect of the injury until 2 April 2012, when she claimed lump sum compensation of $20,500.
A Workers Compensation Commission of NSW (WCC) appeal hearing heard that the incident had been witnessed by Galluzzo's area manager, Marcus Evans, with a report of the fall being made to her boss, Lynne Furse, and the motel's receptionist, who compiled an "incident report".
Galluzzo claimed that she was first made aware of the incident report on 5 July 2006, when Furse gave it to her at the same time as a letter stating that her role was to change to that of a paraplanner and threatening termination of her employment due to the condition of her right knee, which Galluzzo said had been painful ever since the fall.
While an initial Workers Compensation Commission of NSW (WCC) arbitrator was "not persuaded" that Galluzzo's claim for lump sum benefits in relation to the incident were valid, following a decision in August 2014, an appeal ruled that the arbitrator's decision was "plainly wrong and cannot stand".
WCC deputy president, Bill Roche, ordered that the initial arbitrator's determination be revoked and the matter remitted to another arbitrator for determination of all standing issues.
Roche ordered CBA to pay Galluzzo's appeal costs, with costs for the first and second arbitration processes to be awarded following the second arbitration.
AUTHOR
Nicholas O'Donoghue
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