Shop assistant files for compensation after falling off a ladder at work

Our client was employed as a shop assistant in a home retail shop. While she was working, she went up a ladder to retrieve a box. As she came down, she missed the last step and fell to the ground, injuring her left ankle. She was driven to the hospital, where X-rays confirmed that she had fractured her ankle. Medical professionals also found she had a blood clot (DVT) and she was started on blood thinning tablets.

She lodged a worker’s compensation claim with her employer’s insurer. They accepted liability for her weekly payments and treatment expenses to assist with her recovery and rehabilitation and return to work. 

As she worked through physical therapy, our client experienced ongoing pain in her left ankle while walking, sitting and climbing the stairs. She required ongoing analgesics, physiotherapy treatment and was fitted with special orthotics. The insurer subsequently ceased her ongoing weekly payments and treatment expenses and issued a section 78 dispute notice concerning her incapacity to work and treatment expenses. 

We challenged this denial of ongoing liability for her work injury.

We arranged for an independent medical examination and assessed by an orthopaedic surgeon. This medical professional could then determine that she had residual pain in the left ankle with a decreased range of motion. Her post-fracture course was complicated by DVT. 

She also had residual swelling around the left ankle that the orthopaedic surgeon determined left the patient with permanent impairment. The left ankle and loss of range of motion, deep vein thrombosis and permanent impairment rendered our client immobile and unable to work.

She was also medically examined and assessed by a vascular surgeon. He determined that she had to wear stockings for her swelling legs. 

She suffered drastic weight gain due to her immobility and incapacity to work. She felt unbalanced and had numerous falls. In addition to all of the negative experiences she had after the fall, her feet continuously felt hot and she needed to see a podiatrist regularly. It was determined that she had lower leg impairment due to peripheral vascular disease arising from her work injury. 

Moreover, she suffered from a consequential sleep disorder condition due to her chronic pain and the need for pain relief medication. She had moderate sleep fragmentation and suffered from a combination of pain and sleep-disordered breathing. This prevented her from remaining alert, concentrating and returning to full-time employment. Doctors determined she suffered from permanent impairment due to a sleep disorder condition arising from her work injury.