Govier v The Uniting Church in Australia Property Trust (Q)


The High Court will hear an appeal against a decision of the Queensland Court of Appeal on employer liability in investigating a violent altercation between two employees. The appellant, an employee of the respondent, was attacked by another employee when they swapped caring shifts. The QCA held that the respondent neither caused nor negligently failed to stop the attack, but did hold that it exacerbated the psychiatric harm done to the appellant when it sent letters that stood her down while the matter was under investigation and accepted the attacker’s view that the incident was the appellant’s fault. The QCA ultimately held, however, that no damages were payable because the provider did not have a duty to avoid such harm in the course of investigating the incident.

High Court Judgment
Result
High Court Documents Govier
Full Court Hearing
Special Leave Hearing [2017] HCATrans 183 15 September 2017
Appeal from QCA [2017] QCA 12 10 February 2017
Trial Judgment, QDC
[2016] QDC 56 18 March 2016
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About Martin Clark

Martin Clark is a PhD Candidate and Judge Dame Rosalyn Higgins Scholar at the London School of Economics and Political Science and Research Fellow at Melbourne Law School. He holds honours degrees in law, history and philosophy from the University of Melbourne, and an MPhil in Law from MLS. While at MLS, he worked as a researcher for several senior faculty members, was a 2012 Editor of the Melbourne Journal of International Law, tutor at MLS and various colleges, a Jessie Legatt Scholar, and attended the Center for Transnational Legal Studies Program.