19 April 2012

Compo shagger wins big in the Federal court

| johnboy
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For some years we’ve thrilled to the tales of the public servant who pulled a local while on a work trip to the country and monstered the hotel room fittings to the point a light came down on her face leading to a Comcare claim.

Comcare said no, the AAT said no, but five years later the Federal Court has said yes according to the SMH.

During the hearing, the woman’s barrister, Leo Grey, said sex was “an ordinary incident of life” commonly undertaken in a motel room at night, just like sleeping or showering.

I’m also curious as to which government agency has a “human relations section”?

The woman, aged in her late 30s, was employed in the human relations section of a Commonwealth government agency.

I mean really, what were they expecting?

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There are two types of people in this situation:

1. They are embarrassed or laugh it off because shit happens. It’s a great story to bring up.
2. They think the world owes them something so they sue sue sue and try to get compo.

Most people are the former, and I’d like to believe very few are the latter.

I do wonder if she caught and STI, could she have sued for that? Or what if she had gotten pregnant?

GardeningGirl said :

welkin31 said :

I am puzzled that you would not look to compo from the Hotel/motel insurance policy in this case.
Why do we sucker taxpayers get hit ?

My thoughts exactly! I could understand the government providing the person with some legal assistance if the need arose, because they sent her on the trip and presumably chose the motel, but otherwise isn’t it really between her and the motel?

Because it was a work trip, so she basically has to put in her claim for worker’s comp. I assume Comcare can (and will?) go after the motel if necessary, not her job to do so.

For those scratching their heads about he job description of “human relations” – it turns out in 1974, Australia had a whole Royal Commission into “human relationships.”

GardeningGirl12:34 pm 20 Apr 12

welkin31 said :

I am puzzled that you would not look to compo from the Hotel/motel insurance policy in this case.
Why do we sucker taxpayers get hit ?

My thoughts exactly! I could understand the government providing the person with some legal assistance if the need arose, because they sent her on the trip and presumably chose the motel, but otherwise isn’t it really between her and the motel?

TheGingerNinja said :

the shag heard round the world? seriously though, how you can get a pay out for your own actions, that resulted in said injuries is ridiculous, does this mean i can get compo for pouring hot coffee on myself?

pretty much…it’s not fault legislation so it doesn’t matter how dumb you are, you will get compo if it’s on work time

personally i’d be too embarrassed to say i was injured while having sex but takes all sorts i guess. who would she be having sex with on a work trip anyway??? must be a very different “agency” to mine

just more waste of tax payer $$……sigh sigh

Gerry-Built said :

ComCare just seems to dismiss nearly every case presented; hoping that most people won’t have the drive to follow it up – especially over such a long period… Good on her for following this through over such a long term; especially after it became such public knowledge.

This isn’t just ComCare, this is the insurance industry generally. My sister inlaw had perfectly straight forward car insurance (her not at fault) claim rejected flat, and then it took ages of screwing around before they gave her the money.

I don’t see a problem with this. If you had a car accident whilst traveling for work; treatment would be covered. If you got food poisoning; treatment would be covered. If the light fitting had simply fallen on her during the night whilst sleeping – there wouldn’t have even been a problem with her compo. I don’t think that having sex whilst on a trip away should be considered out of the realms of normal activity. It is simply because sex is involved that the media has followed this – for the titillation…

I have every expectation that Government Departments will now throw together some rules about what is acceptable behaviour on the road for work (if they haven’t already); I’d fully expect high risk (bungee jumping, go-karting, abseiling, skydiving) activities to be banned (as common-sense would tell you), but sex isn’t (usually) high risk; even if vigorous.

ComCare just seems to dismiss nearly every case presented; hoping that most people won’t have the drive to follow it up – especially over such a long period… Good on her for following this through over such a long term; especially after it became such public knowledge.

I am puzzled that you would not look to compo from the Hotel/motel insurance policy in this case.
Why do we sucker taxpayers get hit ?

screaming banshee said :

The thing that s***s me is the suppression, if we the tax payers have to compensate someone for smacking themselves in the face with a light fitting while screwing around on a work trip the we should bloody well know who it is.

Yep, this is the big issue. She’s put her snout in the trough for *our* taxes so she should have to tell us who she is.

Between useless bludging public servants and conniving parasite lawyers, I’m surprised there’s *any* of our money left for Education, Health and Roads.

You’re all just jealous, admit it.

Velveteen Rabbit10:25 pm 19 Apr 12

Ok, ok! Ignorance admitted. Sheesh.

Velveteen Rabbit said :

johnboy said :

So what agency has a human relations section?

I imagine said section was swiftly renamed or morphed into the generic-sounding ‘Human Resources’ area.

Seriously wtf. I wonder how much she got, and how much of that she will end up with after ‘contributory negligence’ and legal fees have been factored in.

I believe someone sued Maccas in the US for spilling hot coffee on themselves, claiming that Maccas should have known that the temperature of said coffee was likely to cause personal injury should some numpty spill it, and therefore were negligent by making their coffee too hot.

I think you need to see this documentary http://www.hotcoffeethemovie.com/

or just keep living in your ignorant little world

I actually support the idea of workers compensation covering people for bad shit that happens when they are somewhere they would not be were it not for their employment.

However, didn’t a cop somewhere in Aust recently loose a workers comp case for injuries sustained when out drinking in a town he was only in ’cause of his work? I hope his appeal is supported (I couldn’t seem to google up the case from my phone, if I am imagining the whole thing I appologies).

screaming banshee9:39 pm 19 Apr 12

The thing that s***s me is the suppression, if we the tax payers have to compensate someone for smacking themselves in the face with a light fitting while screwing around on a work trip the we should bloody well know who it is.

Velveteen Rabbit said :

I believe someone sued Maccas in the US for spilling hot coffee on themselves, claiming that Maccas should have known that the temperature of said coffee was likely to cause personal injury should some numpty spill it, and therefore were negligent by making their coffee too hot.

mcdonalds knew the temperature of the coffee and they knew that it injured people before this more famous incident.

the coffee was too hot, mcdonalds were liable and the settlement often quoted was appealed down by McD’s lawyers until it barely covered the medical expenses. The elderly lady (or ‘numpty’ as you put it) required skin grafts and never recovered fully up until to her death.

the reason you’re quoting it is because, at the time, u.s. tort law reform lobby groups used the ‘absurdity’ of that case to champion their efforts to have state and federal legislators introduce limits on compensation payouts, well that or seinfeld.

there’s photos taken at hospital of the injury, why don’t you find them, it’s all you will need to change your opinion of that case and stop quoting it.

TheGingerNinja said :

… does this mean i can get compo for pouring hot coffee on myself?

If you could get it when at the office, you can get it when required to be working out of the office. As the judge said if she was sitting playing cards and got injured then there would have been no issues, the fact she was having sex does not change her entitlement to compo. It just makes the case a bit lurid.

Velveteen Rabbit said :

johnboy said :

So what agency has a human relations section?

I imagine said section was swiftly renamed or morphed into the generic-sounding ‘Human Resources’ area.

Seriously wtf. I wonder how much she got, and how much of that she will end up with after ‘contributory negligence’ and legal fees have been factored in.

I believe someone sued Maccas in the US for spilling hot coffee on themselves, claiming that Maccas should have known that the temperature of said coffee was likely to cause personal injury should some numpty spill it, and therefore were negligent by making their coffee too hot.

Firstly, its Comcare not negligence so completely different. Its a workers comp claim, presumably the argument was whether she was injured during work (being on a work trip) or whether her activities took her behaviour outside of what you would expect as an employer sending her on a work trip.

Secondly, if you do some research on the Mcdonalds case, you will understand why the injured person received compo. In short, serving someone coffee so hot as to cause very serious burns is probably a bad idea.

Velveteen Rabbit5:43 pm 19 Apr 12

johnboy said :

So what agency has a human relations section?

I imagine said section was swiftly renamed or morphed into the generic-sounding ‘Human Resources’ area.

Seriously wtf. I wonder how much she got, and how much of that she will end up with after ‘contributory negligence’ and legal fees have been factored in.

I believe someone sued Maccas in the US for spilling hot coffee on themselves, claiming that Maccas should have known that the temperature of said coffee was likely to cause personal injury should some numpty spill it, and therefore were negligent by making their coffee too hot.

TheGingerNinja5:26 pm 19 Apr 12

the shag heard round the world? seriously though, how you can get a pay out for your own actions, that resulted in said injuries is ridiculous, does this mean i can get compo for pouring hot coffee on myself?

johnboy said :

So what agency has a human relations section?

One of the big ones, I heard.

Apparently they don’t want the publicity. Hahahaha.

Between this and this decision on death benefits it’s been an exciting week in worker’s comp.

….. and then one time…… at band camp……

Read the Factual Background here: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/FCA/2012/395.html

Graduate Recruitment bandwagon gone wrong?

So what agency has a human relations section?

sarahsarah said :

Even now I still find the partner’s comments about their activities frickin’ hilarious.

Go hard or go home, champ.

Imagine walking out on the morning after with 2 black eyes, or glass cuts or whever her injury was and explaining that one to the colleague…

i cut myself shaving? Or we were going so hard the sky fell in.

Can’t give someone a job in human relations and not expect them to have relations with humans.

Even now I still find the partner’s comments about their activities frickin’ hilarious.

Oh JB surely you know why they have a “Human Relations” section of this mysterious unnamed “government agency.”

She was obviously working for a secret government agency the monitors and investigates extraterrestrial activity. Obviously a martian landed and she was in charge of learning the differences between them and us. Government cover up and conspiracy, I knew it from the start.

Woman probably in cahoots with the saucer people and the law society from the start to stitch this up.

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