Unilever Australia Ltd v Saab [2013] NSWCA 374

Court of Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Unilever Australia Ltd v Saab [2013] NSWCA 374 Hearing dates: 16 October 2013 Decision date: 11 November 2013 Before: Macfarlan JA at [1] Meagher JA at [5] Tobias AJA at [6] Decision: (1) Grant leave to appeal. (2) Direct the appellant to file, within seven days of today, a notice of appeal in the form of the draft supplied to the Court. (3) Appeal dismissed. (4) The appellant to pay the respondent's costs of the application for leave to appeal and of the appeal. [Note: The Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 provide (Rule 36.11) that unless the Court otherwise orders, a judgment or order is taken to be entered when it is recorded in the Court's computerised court record system. Setting aside and variation of judgments or orders is dealt with by Rules 36.15, 36.16, 36.17 and 36.18. Parties should in particular note the time limit of fourteen days in Rule 36.16.] Catchwords: WORKERS' COMPENSATION - six month time limit after injury received to commence claim for compensation - injury taken to have been received when worker first became aware of it - s 261(6) Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998 - injury defined in Act as "personal injury arising out of or in the course of employment" - appellant worked in noisy conditions at factory operated by respondent - gradual onset of hearing loss - whether worker's opinion or belief that hearing loss causally related to noisy employment constitutes awareness where determination of the cause of a gradual hearing loss is a matter for expert opinion - whether worker only aware when received appropriate medical advice - discussion of concepts of awareness and knowledge Cases Cited: Unilever Australia Ltd v Petrevska [2013] NSWCA 373 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Unilever Australia Ltd (Appellant) Ali Saab (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: G M Watson SC/D G Saul (Appellant) M Joseph SC/R Petrie (Respondent) Solicitors: Astridge and Murray (Appellant) Koutzoumis Lawyers (Respondent) File Number(s): CA 2013/37085 Decision under appeal Citation: Unilever Australia Limited v Saab Date of Decision: 2013-01-14 00:00:00 Before: Deputy President O'Grady File Number(s): A1-5805/11