Initially harassed outside of the workplace by a co-worker, our client then experienced harassment and bullying during work hours. As a result, our client suffered severe psychological injuries which led to him not being able to work in any capacity. We worked with our client to reinstate workers compensation entitlements.
A claim to receive workers compensation entitlements was lodged, however this was denied by the insurer who issued a Section 78 notice.
The Section 78 notice alleged that the workplace injury did not take place during the course of employment, rather it was a result of an incident that took place outside of work and therefore was not work related.
As a result of this notice, our client now was unable to receive weekly benefits from the insurer nor was he entitled have his medical treatment/expenses covered by the insurer.
Our client subsequently contacted Gerard Malouf and Partners with the intent to reinstate workers compensation rights. We understood from the outset that in order to overturn the insurers decision, it was required that we carefully considered the evidence before us in order to build a case that would ultimately prove too strong for the insurer to continue denying liability for our clients claim.
We obtained reports from our clients GP and treating doctors to support that employment was the main contributing factor to our client’s injuries and that our client was not able to return to any form of employment since the injury occurred.
We subsequently filed an Application to Resolve a Dispute in the Workers Compensation Commission. We successfully reinstated weekly compensation benefits for our client. Our client was paid back to his first day of incapacity. As our evidence was very supportive, the insurer also approved to pay for any reasonable and necessary medical treatment. His claim is now fully accepted by the insurer and continues to receive his workers compensation benefits.
This was a very pleasing result for our client who is now able move forward with his life with a sense of security, knowing justice was well and truly achieved. Here at Gerald Malouf and Partners we had worked tirelessly to place ourselves in the best position to ensure the insurer would overturn their decision to deny paying our client his weekly benefits and medical expenses. Great preparation placed us in a great position to ensure a great outcome.
