Jaffarie v Quality Castings Pty Ltd [2015] NSWCA 335

Court of Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Jaffarie v Quality Castings Pty Ltd [2015] NSWCA 335 Hearing dates: 22 September 2015 Decision date: 29 October 2015 Before: Macfarlan JA at [1]; Ward JA at [39]; Sackville AJA at [54] Decision: (1) Appeal allowed. (2) Set aside the orders made by Deputy President Roche on 9 December 2014 and recorded in [315] and [316] of his judgment of that date. (3) In lieu of those orders, order that: (a) The orders contained in paragraphs 1 to 7 inclusive of the Arbitrator's determination of 17 February 2014, and the Determination of 10 June 2014 insofar as it confirmed those orders, are set aside; and (b) the whole matter is remitted to a different arbitrator for re-determination in accordance with the reasons in the Deputy President's judgment of 9 December 2014 as varied by this judgment. (4) Order that the first respondent pay the appellant's costs of the appeal to this Court. (5) The first respondent is to have a certificate under the Suitors' Fund Act 1951 (NSW), if qualified. Catchwords: WORKERS' COMPENSATION – claim for lump sum compensation – alleged injury in course of employment to both lumbar and thoracic spine – arbitrator determined that appellant injured lumbar spine but not thoracic spine – worker appealed to Workers Compensation Commission – whether Deputy President erred in finding that the worker did not challenge the arbitrator's finding about the thoracic spine – whether Deputy President's misreading of the arbitrator's reasons was an error of law – whether Deputy President had the power under the Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998, s 352(7) to remit part only of the worker's claims for re-determination