Key Points:
Good record management early on in the complaint process
will save a lot of pain down the track.
An employee has been denied workers' compensation by the
Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Tribunal in Tasmania (The
State of Tasmania (Department of Police & Emergency Management)
v H [2015]), on the basis that alleged "belligerent,
aggressive and intimidatory" behaviour by her colleague was
not the most significant cause of an aggravation to the
employee's pre-existing vulvodynia (a chronic pain syndrome
affecting the external female genitals).
In the course of being directed to perform an administrative
task, the employee conveyed to her colleague that she believed the
request to be unreasonable and wanted to discuss the matter with
her supervisor. Following the alleged "enraged" reaction
of her colleague, the employee lodged a claim for
workers"compensation citing alleged bullying by her colleague
as the reason for the aggravation of her
