The "Onody" case - WK Lawyers setting a precedent for progression hearing loss claims in South Australia

WK Lawyers was proud to represent Mr Onody in his claim for workers compensation for noise induced hearing loss.

This matter allowed a contentious aspect of the South Australian workers compensation law to ultimately be settled by the Full Court of the Supreme Court of South Australia, establishing a principle that continues to ensure fair outcomes for injured workers.

Mr Onody had previously made a claim for lump sum compensation for noise induced hearing loss and received a lump sum payment.

However, he continued to work in noisy employment after his initial claim and as a result his noise induced hearing loss became worse.

The dispute was as to how much worsening Mr Onody had to sustain to be entitled to a further lump sum payment and how that would be calculated.

Briefly stated, the Full Court of the Supreme Court found that as long as the total compensable loss was over 5% Whole Person Impairment and some worsening was attributable to the further noise exposure then the further hearing loss was compensable, with the entitlement to lump sum being calculated as the difference between what the total noise induced hearing loss is worth (in monetary terms) and the amount of lump sum compensation previously received.

This provides a much fairer outcome for injured workers and stops them from being penalised for making hearing loss claims earlier in their careers.

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Elias Angeletti of our office was the instructing solicitor in this landmark case, which has set precedent for many progression hearing loss claims.

To read a copy of the full decision, please head to www.austlii.edu.au: ONODY v RETURN TO WORK CORPORATION OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA [2019] SASCFC 56 (24 May 2019) (austlii.edu.au)