De Vries v JNC Group Australia Pty Limited (No. 2) [2023] NSWSC 798

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: De Vries v JNC Group Australia Pty Limited (No. 2) [2023] NSWSC 798 Hearing dates: 07 July 2023 Date of orders: 07 July 2023 Decision date: 07 July 2023 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Elkaim AJ Decision: 1. Pursuant to s 151Z(2)(c) of the Workers Compensation Act, the damages other than for economic loss ($853,538.92), are to be reduced by 20% to a figure of $682,831.14. Adding the damages for economic loss ($828,852.50) results in Judgment for the plaintiff against the first defendant in the sum of $1,511,683.60. (Noted in such event, the plaintiff is to repay the second defendant the compensation received, $373,302.90). 2. Judgment for the plaintiff against the second defendant in the sum of $828,852.50. 3. Pursuant to s 151Z(2)(d) of the Workers Compensation Act, Judgment for the first defendant against the second defendant on the cross-claim, for 20% of the economic loss damages, being $165,770.50. 4. The first defendant is to pay the plaintiff's costs of the proceedings on an ordinary basis, except that those costs are not to include any costs exclusively limited to the case against the second defendant. 5. No order as to costs as between the plaintiff and the second defendant. 6. The first and second defendants are to bear their own costs of the cross-claims. 7. Judgment against the first defendant is stayed on condition that any appeal from the judgment is filed within 42 days of the date of these orders. Catchwords: JUDGMENT – Final orders – Entitlement of plaintiff to not accept satisfaction of judgment against second defendant – costs against second defendant – offer of compromise – reasonable rejection of offer Legislation Cited: Workers Compensation Act 1987 (NSW) Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998 (NSW) Workers Compensation Regulation 2016 (NSW) Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW). Cases Cited: De Vries v JNC Group Australia Pty Limited [2023] NSWSC 777 Southwest Helicopters Pty Ltd v Stephenson [2017] NSWCA 312; (2017) 98 NSWLR 1. Category: Principal judgment Parties: Guy Stephen de Vries (Plaintiff) JNC Group Australia Pty Limited (First Defendant) Jobs Australia Enterprises Limited (Second Defendant) Representation: Counsel: P Morris SC / L Morgan (Plaintiff) N Polin SC / D Talintyre (First Defendant) D Kelly (Second Defendant)