Newcastle Matter Misericordiae Hospital v Milica Josfovski

Newcastle Matter Misericordiae Hospital (the appellant) appealed to the New South Wales Court of Appeal against a decision of the District Court of New South Wales. The dispute concerned the appellant's liability for injuries sustained by Milica Josfovski (the respondent) during her employment as a cleaner at the hospital. The respondent alleged that she had suffered a psychiatric injury as a result of the appellant's negligence.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the appellant owed a duty of care to the respondent in relation to the psychiatric injury she suffered, and if so, whether that duty had been breached. The court was required to consider the principles governing the duty of care owed by an employer to an employee in respect of psychiatric harm, particularly in circumstances where the harm was not caused by a single traumatic event but by a cumulative series of stressors in the workplace.

The Court of Appeal applied the principles established in cases such as *Koehler v Cerebos (Australia) Ltd* and *Horkin v Northern General Hospital NHS Trust*. The court found that an employer owes a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent an employee from suffering psychiatric injury where it is reasonably foreseeable that the employee might be susceptible to such injury. This duty requires the employer to make reasonable inquiries if they become aware of circumstances that suggest an employee is suffering from a psychiatric illness or is at risk of developing one. In this instance, the court determined that the appellant had failed to take reasonable steps to ascertain the respondent's condition or to alleviate the stressors contributing to her psychiatric harm, thereby breaching its duty of care.

The appeal was dismissed, and the decision of the District Court in favour of the respondent was affirmed.