$200,000 payout for ECEC worker injured in shed unpacking incident

A former Queensland early childhood education and care (ECEC) educator who twisted her ankle when tripping over a piece of Lego has been awarded nearly $200,000 in a controversial compensation case. 

The twisting of her ankle has left the educator with ligament damage which has limited her work and daily life, with a judge ruling that the service was negligent because it had failed to ensure the blocks were packed away in such a way to avoid injury. 

The injury occurred in 2017 when the educator was setting up the yard for the day, and was removing an A frame from the shed, walking backwards when the fall took place, with the Brisbane District Court on Friday ordering the Queensland service to pay its former employee $197,013.98. 

After suffering ligament damage and receiving treatment, with ‘little success’, the educator says she has been left with constant pain that has limited her work and daily life. Central to the case was how the block came to be on the ground, and the lighting in and around the storage shed, given the incident took place just before 6 am when the yard may still have been dark. 

The educator argued that she could not and did not see the block because the light inside the shed was broken, something she said she had reported – a fact the service disputes. 

The service argued that the educator was at fault, and must have disturbed the block in some way from a secure position in the act of moving equipment in the space. Further, they argued that the injury was only minor in nature, resolved quickly, and did not constitute compensable loss and damage. 

Presiding Judge Horneman-Wren said he was satisfied by the evidence put forward which showed that the service was negligent after staff had failed to ensure the shed was properly packed, and that no items were left on the floor. 

“I am satisfied that the defendant’s negligence in failing to ensure that the shed was properly packed away the previous day and particularly to ensure the block was safely stored and not left lying on the floor, was a necessary condition of her injury,” he ruled.