Bunnings worker wins $1.25 million payout
Bunnings is set to fork out $1.25 million after a worker was seriously injured on the job.
Sarah Jane, 31, worked as a merchandiser for Neutrog at Seven Hills Bunnings in Western Sydney in 2018 when she severely injured her back while trying to lift and drag forward a bucket of fertiliser to the front of a pallet.
Each bucket weighed between 10.8 and 11.2 kilograms, and Jane said that she continues to suffer from the injury today.
Her case was heard in the NSW Supreme Court this week with Bunnings agreeing to pay $750,000 in a settlement plus legal costs, which are estimated to be about $500,000.
Neutrog, who was her employer, has also been ordered to contribute to the costs.
As part of the settlement, Bunnings admitted they “knew or ought to have known” the foreseeable risk when they failed to train Jane to use a pallet jack, which could have prevented her injury.
Jane was only trained using a Bunnings module, but was not told that pallet jacks were available to help her move stock forward.
The pallet are regularly used by Bunnings workers but court documents note that they “did not apply the same rigour or adopt the same precautions for the merchandisers, who were nonetheless subject to Bunnings control and oversight”.
Jane’s lawyer, Luke Power, said that the settlement was a "win for the little guy" after a lot of push back from Bunnings regarding the case.
“There has been a lot of push back and we were told on numerous occasions there was no case,” Power said.
“This has been incredibly stressful for her, and it was fought tooth and nail.”
Despite winning the big payout, Jane, who is also a mother, has said that the injury has dramatically changed her life.
“It’s a win but it doesn’t really feel like a win,” she said.
“Not just everything that they’ve put me through, but just the injury itself, and how much it’s changed my life and how much I’ve missed out on with my kids when they were young.”
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