Hurt workers queue to sue
Unsafe work practices in the hospitality industry are costing employers thousands of dollars as workers take legal action over permanent injuries.
O’Reilly’s Guesthouse, in the Gold Coast hinterland, paid a six-figure sum to a former bar attendant who injured her back lugging cartons of alcohol up two flights of stairs.
Jennifer Chappell, 22, said she had to carry the cartons as part of her job, but after four months was almost crippled by severe back pain.
Eventually she had surgery on a prolapsed disc.
“I can’t work in hospitality any more. It’s just too hard. I still suffer from pins and needles down my right leg,” she said. “I would give anything to get my former mobility back.”
Kate Ralph, 50, also settled out of court with her former employer, a Brisbane hotel, after suffering a permanent arm injury as a kitchen-hand.
The 42kg mother said there was no one else to carry 25kg bags of potatoes to and from a store room.
“I used to say my arm was sore, but there was no one to take over. You just had to do it if you wanted to keep your job,” Ms Ralph said. “My arm got that bad my doctor said, ‘if you don’t stop working you’re going to lose the use of your arm’.”
Trilby Misso principal lawyer Luke Short said the firm had seen a steep rise in personal injury claims this year and most of the claimants were women.
Mr Short said injuries were often a result of staff being asked by supervisors to lift heavy items. He said common to many of the cases was a lack of adequate supervision and adherence by management to occupational health and safety practices.
The rash of lawsuits is no surprise to the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union, which said housekeepers at luxury hotels were at the highest risk of injury among women.
LHMWU assistant secretary Kerry Tomlinson said staff cuts during the financial crisis created a more dangerous work environment.
“There are employers who want to cut corners and not have the right amount of staff and the right equipment,” she said.
