Freightcorp v Duncan

Freightcorp appealed to the New South Wales Court of Appeal against a decision of the Workers Compensation Commission. The dispute concerned whether the respondent worker, Mr Duncan, had rejected suitable employment by accepting a redundancy package offered by Freightcorp.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether Mr Duncan's acceptance of the redundancy offer constituted a rejection of suitable employment, thereby disentitling him to workers' compensation benefits. This required the court to consider the reasonableness of Mr Duncan's actions in the context of his obligations under the relevant workers' compensation legislation.

The Court of Appeal upheld the Commission's finding that Mr Duncan had not unreasonably rejected suitable employment. The court reasoned that the redundancy offer was not a genuine offer of alternative employment but rather a package to terminate his employment. Therefore, Mr Duncan's acceptance of this package did not amount to obtaining or rejecting suitable employment in the statutory sense. The appeal was dismissed with costs.