In brief - Two decisions of Australian courts in late 2019
demonstrate once again the need for claimants to be able to
establish that a compensable "accident" took place
New South Wales District Court Judge Dicker was asked to
consider the entitlement to compensation of a woman who alleged
that she had sustained injury when, while travelling from Dubai to
Sydney on an Emirates flight on 31 October 2016, an aircraft
overhead locker fell heavily on her right thumb and hand when she
opened the locker to obtain some infant formula for her baby during
the flight.
While her injury was treated with an ice pack, medication and a
splint during the flight, following her return home she required
physiotherapy and, in the year following the injury, alleged she
developed pain in her right shoulder, which she said affected her
household and work duties.
