The County Court granted leave to commence a proceeding for pain and suffering damages only in respect of a left knee injury sustained in a work incident on 2 October 2022. The Court found that while the plaintiff had a pre-existing condition (a surgically repaired medial meniscal tear from which she had partially but not fully recovered), the work incident caused a new meniscal tear rather than an aggravation of the prior injury, and the impairment consequences were solely or very substantially attributable to the work incident. Applying the Humphries v Poljak two-stage narrative test, the Court found the impairment was both subjectively and objectively serious, particularly given the plaintiff's relatively young age, the dysfunction affecting most aspects of her life, and the real risk of worsening over time due to degenerative changes.
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