Assaulted healthcare worker awarded 890k in psychiatric claim.

22 May 2024

Stephanie was a dedicated healthcare worker. She had hoped to receive support from her employer after she was left with a psychiatric injury suffered in the workplace. But unfortunately, her workers compensation claim was rejected outright by her employer’s insurer. So that’s when Stephanie turned to Law Partners for help.

Coping with an assault at work.

Not long after turning 25, Stephanie was distressed when she was assaulted at work by one of her regular clients. This naturally caused her immense discomfort, so she agreed with her employer, a not-for-profit community health organisation, to take paid time off work to recover.

But incredibly, after returning to work, Stephanie was once again assaulted by the same client. It was a disturbing sequence of events that caused Stephanie’s mental health to plummet, leading to a diagnosis of severe stress, anxiety, and depression.

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Forming a bond with Stephanie.

Stephanie called Law Partners for assistance, looking for support and advice to better understand her legal options. We spoke with Stephanie about her situation and agreed to take on the case.

Her employer had initially rejected the claim, arguing that a certain level of stress and hardship was all part of her job. So, we set to work, gathering evidence with assessments and reports from psychologists. And we got to know Stephanie over many weeks, helping her draft a very comprehensive statement detailing her assaults and the impact they’d had on her life.

Achieving a great compensation outcome.

“Nancy Basal and the team at Law Partners were so compassionate and didn’t rush me at all, taking time to understand my situation completely,” Stephanie says. “As things progressed, I really felt like I could trust my legal team. To be honest, I believe this working relationship was a big factor in helping to win my case.”

Law Partners went to the Personal Injury Commission to resolve the dispute with Stephanie’s case, and we were successful in proving her employer’s liability. The commission found Stephanie had indeed experienced a legitimate workers compensation injury, and that her employer had been negligent and breached their duty of care.

Our psychiatrist also assessed Stephanie and found she was above a certain threshold and therefore entitled to a work injury damages (WID) claim. This helps to cover future economic loss, and we managed to get Stephanie $600,000 for this part of the claim.

Overall, including her workers compensation payments for wages and medical treatment expenses, we got Stephanie a total of $890,000 in compensation entitlements.

“I’m so relieved I can now draw a line under this awful period of my life, and start to move on,” Stephanie says. “I’m not sure what the future holds, but I’m certain I’ll be forever grateful to have had Law Partners by my side, helping me every step of the way.

“If anyone reading this has been through something similar at work, I’d say to you please reach out to Law Partners for help,” concludes Stephanie.