The County Court granted leave to the plaintiff to bring a common law claim for pain and suffering damages, finding that the permanent impairment consequences of her compensable lumbar spine injury — constant variable pain, medication regime, sleep disturbance, and loss of social and recreational pursuits — collectively satisfied the 'serious injury' threshold under s335 of the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013. The Court accepted the plaintiff's evidence broadly despite some unsatisfactory aspects including exaggeration regarding phone use and inconsistencies in Prodeine prescription evidence, and rejected the defendant's orthopaedic expert's opinion that symptoms were discordant with known pathology as insufficiently explained. Having found the lumbar spine injury met the threshold, the Court did not need to determine the left shoulder claim.
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