The Victorian Supreme Court has awarded a packaging worker $490,000 in damages after a heavy pallet that was not safely stored fell on her, causing multiple injuries.

In December 2004, the Bartter Enterprises Pty Ltd worker was walking to her work station when a heavy wooden pallet that had been left leaning against a stack of other pallets fell and struck her on the leg.

The worker told the company doctor that she twisted in an attempt to avoid the pallet, and injured her back. He prescribed rest.

She returned to work on light administrative duties, but this was unsuccessful because she had never worked in an office and could not speak English. An attempt to give her sorting work was also unsuccessful, because it required bending.

Her condition deteriorated and she did not return to work.

Worker's symptoms consistent, but exaggerated

Before Justice Robert Osborne, the worker said she suffered from chronic pain and depression, could no longer bend, lift, twist or drive, and had used a wheelchair since late 2008.

But her employer said a private investigator had observed her standing unsupported in the doorway of her home on one occasion, and driving on another. Bartter Enterprises also contended that her use of a wheelchair was a choice and, because it was not justified by medical evidence, should be considered irrelevant in determining damages.

The worker challenged the private investigator's report. She said the car had a tinted windscreen and the investigator could have mistaken her daughter for herself.

Justice Osborne found this unlikely, and said the evidence was "directly corroborative" of exaggerated symptoms.

But he also noted that in 39 days of surveillance over six years, there was nothing else to suggest the worker's behaviour was inconsistent with her purported condition.

Justice Osborne attributed the ongoing nature of the worker's pain to a pre-existing degenerative condition, but said that because continuing back pain had been her "main complaint" since shortly after the accident, it should warrant compensation.

After considering the extent of the workers physical and psychological pain and suffering, and her reduced earning capacity, he awarded her $490,000 in damages.

Bozic v Bartter Enterprises Pty Ltd [2010] VSC 488 (28 October 2010)