Johnson v. Laing O'Rourke (BMC) Pty Ltd

DISTRICT COURT OF QUEENSLAND

CITATION:

Johnson v Laing O’Rourke (BMC) Pty Ltd [2009] QDC 10

PARTIES:

ERRIN PETER JOHNSON

Applicant

AND

LAING O’ROURKE (BMC) PTY LTD

Respondent

FILE NO/S:

OA 3544/09

DIVISION:

PROCEEDING:

Originating Application

ORIGINATING COURT:

District Court, Brisbane

DELIVERED ON:

30 January 2009

DELIVERED AT:

Brisbane

HEARING DATE:

22 January 2009

JUDGE:

McGill DCJ

ORDER:

Application dismissed with costs.

CATCHWORDS:

EMPLOYMENT LAW – Injury of Employee – plaintiff injured out of Australia – claim for damages – whether regulated by Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002.

NEGLIGENCE – Personal Injuries – plaintiff injured out of Australia in course of employment – claim for damages against employer – regulated by Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003.

Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 s 6(2)(c).

Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 ss 10, 11, 32, 237.

Watkin v GRN International Pty Ltd [2006] QCA 382 – applied.

COUNSEL:

SM Gordon for the applicant

DP De Jersey for the respondent

SOLICITORS:

Hall Payne Lawyers for the applicant

Sparke Helmore Solicitors for the respondent

1. This is an application under s 59(2) of the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (“the 2002 Act”) for leave to commence a proceeding after the expiration of the limitation period. It is opposed only on the ground that the 2002 Act does not apply to the proceeding proposed to be commenced by the applicant.

Background

1. The respondent company carries on business in Queensland, and elsewhere.  The applicant had been employed by the respondent from 12 March 1997, remaining in that position until 2001.[1]  In 2003 he returned to employment with the respondent and worked in the Brisbane office for approximately six months.  He worked for the respondent in Vietnam from early 2004 until September 2004, during which time he suffered workplace stress and made a claim for compensation on WorkCover.[2]  He remained employed by the respondent in Brisbane until 15 August 2005 when he went to work in Indonesia for a period.  Nominally the posting was for one year, although there was an expectation that his work there would continue for a period of between five and 10 years; his family was to move to Indonesia to join him in January 2006.  He returned on a break to Brisbane from 2 November to 16 November, then returned on 24 December for a Christmas break which was extended as a result of a diagnosis of work‑related anxiety and depression.  He returned to Indonesia on 16 March 2006 but came home on 11 August 2006 and has not returned to employment since then.

   [1]This is taken from the affidavit of Applicant filed 20 January 2009, and, in relation to some uncontroversial details, the affidavit of Long filed 21 January 2009.

   [2]Affidavit of Long, Exhibit JFL-5.

1. Relevantly, the applicant is seeking to claim damages from the respondent for psychiatric injury alleged to have been suffered by him in the course of his employment with the respondent as a result of the negligence of the respondent. It is therefore a claim for…