Fire and Rescue NSW v S

In the appeal Fire and Rescue NSW v S, the parties were a public sector employer and its employee, a firefighter. The dispute concerned the worker's entitlement to compensation for a psychological injury and the circumstances surrounding his employment termination. The case was heard in the New South Wales Court of Appeal, where the worker had appealed against an earlier decision of a workers compensation arbitrator.

The central legal issues addressed in the appeal related to the causation and assessment of the worker's psychological injury, the procedural fairness in the arbitration process, and the application of section 11A of the Workers Compensation Act 1987. Specifically, the worker argued that the arbitrator had erred in finding that his incapacity resulted from his criminal conduct rather than the psychological injury, had failed to give reasons for assessing medical evidence, and had not properly considered the reasonableness of the transfer that led to his employment termination.

The Court of Appeal found that the arbitrator had correctly identified the primary cause of the worker's incapacity as his criminal conduct rather than the psychological injury. The court emphasised the principles in Calman v Commissioner of Police, where it was held that a worker's criminal conduct could be considered in assessing the extent of a psychological injury. The Court of Appeal also held that the arbitrator had not failed to give reasons for assessing medical evidence, and had properly considered the evidence relating to the reasonableness of the transfer. Consequently, the appeal was dismissed, and the arbitrator's determinations were confirmed.

The final orders of the Court of Appeal confirmed the arbitrator's determinations with a minor amendment to the date of the Certificate of Determination, and required the employer to pay the worker's costs of the appeal.