Ozer v ANZ Australia Pty Ltd

[2025] NSWPIC 75

CERTIFICATE OF DETERMINATION OF MEMBER 

CITATION:

Ozer v ANZ Australia Pty Ltd [2025] NSWPIC 75

APPLICANT:

Seval Ozer

RESPONDENT:

ANZ Australia Pty Ltd

MEMBER:

Cameron Burge

DATE OF DECISION:

6 March 2025

CATCHWORDS:

WORKERS COMPENSATION - Workers Compensation Act 1987; permanent impairment compensation; whether harm to body system at issue is categorised as injury or consequential condition; difference between injury and consequential condition; the applicant suffered a fall in the course of her employment which caused a fractured head of her right humerus; she also claimed an injury to her right shoulder; the respondent accepted liability for a consequential condition to the right shoulder but disputed injury to that body system; applicant claimed consequential conditions to her neck and left shoulder which were disputed; Held – the applicant suffered injury to her right shoulder in the fall at issue; the contemporaneous material demonstrated the requisite sudden or identifiable pathological change necessary to find injury pursuant to section 4; Castro v State Transit Authority (NSW) referred to; the applicant is not required to identify pathological change sufficient to satisfy the requirements of section 4 in order to prove a consequential condition to her neck and left shoulder; Kumar v Royal Comfort Bedding Pty Ltd, Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Parramatta v Brennan, and Moon v Conmah Pty Ltd followed; the question of whether a consequential condition exists is one of causation; as such it is necessary to determine the question by way of a commonsense evaluation of the causal chain; Kooragang Cement Pty Ltd v Bates; the preponderance of the medical and lay evidence in this matter establishes the presence of consequential conditions to the neck and left shoulder; matter remitted to the President for referral of all claimed body systems to a Medical Assessor to determine the applicant’s whole person impairment.

DETERMINATIONS MADE:

The Commission determines:

1.     Within seven days of the hearing held on 4 March 2025, the parties are to lodge their respective Applications to Lodge Additional Documents.

2.     The applicant suffered an injury to her right upper extremity (humerus and shoulder) in the course of her employment with the respondent on 28 December 2018.

3.     As a result of her injury, the applicant developed consequential conditions to her cervical spine and left upper extremity (shoulder).

4.     The matter is remitted to the President for referral to a Medical Assessor to determine the permanent impairment arising from the following:

Date of injury: 28 December 2018.

Body systems referred: right upper extremity (humerus and shoulder), cervical spine (consequential condition) and left upper extremity (shoulder) (consequential condition).

Method of assessment: whole person impairment.

5.     The documents to be referred to the Medical Assessor to assist with their determination are to include the following:

(a)    this Certificate of Determination and Statement of Reasons;

(b)    Application to Resolve a Dispute and attachments;

(c)    Reply and attachments save for all reports of Dr Miniter and Dr Reiter which are not to be referred;

(d)…