Sara v G & S Sara Pty Ltd

Sara, the widow of a deceased worker, applied to the Court for a death benefit under the Workers Compensation scheme. The respondent, G & S Sara Pty Ltd, a group of companies involved in dental technician products and services, argued that the worker contracted COVID-19 in a social setting outside the course of employment and that his work in the United States was for a different company, Stoneglass US, and not covered by the Workers Compensation Act. The dispute centred on whether the worker's employment was covered by the Workers Compensation scheme and whether the COVID-19 infection occurred in the course of employment.

The Court needed to determine if the worker's employment was covered by the Workers Compensation Act and if the COVID-19 infection occurred in the course of employment. The Court examined the onset of symptoms, the worker's reluctance to wear masks, likely exposure to many people during travel, and the medical evidence regarding the incubation period to determine the likely place of infection. The Court also considered the administrative arrangement of the respondent's group of companies and the nature of the work performed by the worker in the United States to establish whether the worker's employment was for Stoneglass US or Stoneglass Australia.

The Court found that the worker probably contracted the virus during the period of travel to the US, which included passing through customs at San Francisco, based on the evidence presented. The Court also found that the work performed in the United States was not exclusively for the US company, as some of the work was in the name of Stoneglass Australia, and that company received a direct benefit from Stoneglass US entering into contracts. The Court held that the worker's employment was covered by the Workers Compensation Act, and the virus was contracted in the course of employment. Consequently, the applicant succeeded in her claim, as the respondent did not contest the presumptions that arose under section 19B of the 1987 Act. The Court granted the applicant entitlement to a death benefit, and the quantum of section 60 expenses stood over for further determination.

The Court ordered that the applicant was entitled to the death benefit under the Workers Compensation Act. The quantum of section 60 expenses remained to be determined in a subsequent proceeding.