Wood v Woolstar Pty Limited - [2021] NSWPIC 372

CERTIFICATE OF DETERMINATION OF MEMBER
CITATION:	Wood v Woolstar Pty Limited [2021] NSWPIC 372
APPLICANT:	Shane Wood
RESPONDENT:	Woolstar Pty Limited
MEMBER:	Jane Peacock
DATE OF DECISION:	23 September 2021
CATCHWORDS:	WORKERS COMPENSATION - Psychological injury; proceedings concerned allegation of injury under section 4(b)(ii) of the Worker Compensation Act 1987 in circumstances where allegation of injury under section 4(b)(i) had been run in prior proceedings and determined in the respondent’s favour; whether an Anshun estoppel applied; Fourmeninapub Pty Ltd v Booth and Secretary, Department of Communities & Justice v Miller & Anor considered; each case to be decided on its own facts; Held – Anshun estopple did not apply; matter remitted for referral to a Medical Assessor in respect of the lump sum claim.
DETERMINATIONS MADE:	1. The matter is remitted for referral to a Medical Assessor to assess the degree of permanent impairment, if any, as a result of psychological injury deemed to have occurred on 13 January 2018, such injury consisting in the aggravation of a disease to which employment was the main contributing factor to the aggravation. 2. The Application to Resolve a Dispute and all documents attached admitted. 3. Late documents filed by the applicant on 20 July 2021 admitted. 4. The Reply and all documents attached admitted. 5. The matter to be relisted for a telephone conference in respect of the claim for weekly benefits and medical expenses once the Medical Assessment Certificate issues.

STATEMENT OF REASONS

BACKGROUND

By Application to Resolve a Dispute (the Application), as amended, Mr Shane Wood (Mr Wood) seeks lump sum compensation and compensation for weekly benefits and medical expenses as a result of a psychological injury alleged deemed to occur on 13 January 2018 and to consist in the aggravation of pre-existing psychological condition to which employment is alleged to be the main contributing factor to the aggravation.
The respondent is Woolstar Pty Ltd (Woolstar) who was self insured for the purposes of workers compensation.
Woolstar denied liability for the claim.

ISSUES FOR DETERMINATION

Mr Wood, with the consent of Woolstar, amended the application to rely on an agreed date of injury of 13 January 2018. This is a deemed date of injury as the disease provisions are relied upon.
Mr Wood, with the consent of Woolstar, amended the application in the “injury description” to withdraw in the last paragraph the words “developed the gradual onset of a psychological condition”. It is agreed that Mr Wood is estopped from running that case by reason of a former award of Arbitrator Homan as she was then known in the Workers Compensation Commission. That means that Mr Wood is relying on a pleading of injury that “due to the nature and conditions of employment the applicant has suffered an aggravation of his pre-existing psychological condition”.

Injury is disputed.
Even if successful on the injury question, Woolstar submitted that Mr Wood is estopped by virtue of the principles of Anshun estoppel and there should be an award for Woolstar.
It is agreed…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

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Details

Case: [2021] NSWPIC 372
Decision Date: 23 September 2021

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Wood v Woolstar Pty Limited involved a claim for workers' compensation, focusing on an alleged psychological injury sustained by the claimant during employment. The dispute was heard by the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The claimant argued that they had suffered a psychological injury under section 4(b)(ii) of the Workers Compensation Act 1987, after a prior claim for a psychological injury under section 4(b)(i) was dismissed in their disfavour. The court was required to determine whether an Anshun estoppel applied, preventing the claimant from re-litigating the same issue.

The legal issue before the court was whether the principle of Anshun estoppel, which prevents a party from relitigating issues that were fully and fairly litigated in a prior proceeding, applied to bar the claimant’s current claim. The court considered relevant case law, including Fourmeninapub Pty Ltd v Booth and Secretary, Department of Communities & Justice v Miller & Anor, which indicated that each case must be decided on its own facts. In this instance, the court found that the application of Anshun estoppel was not appropriate as the current claim involved different sections of the Workers Compensation Act and different elements of the injury.

The court concluded that the Anshun estoppel did not apply, as the current proceedings were not a re-litigation of the same issues that had been decided in the prior proceedings. Consequently, the matter was remitted for referral to a Medical Assessor to evaluate the lump sum claim regarding the psychological injury under section 4(b)(ii) of the Workers Compensation Act.

Orders