High Court dismisses special leave applications by four plaintiffs

On 15 December 2016, the High Court dismissed applications for special leave brought by the four plaintiffs, Ms Palmer, Ms Hayes, Ms Harris and Ms Greenhalgh. The High Court’s decision reaffirmed the decision of the Queensland Court of Appeal on 29 July 2016.

Four government workers instituted proceedings against the State seeking damages for psychiatric injuries. The plaintiffs’ injuries arose out of a workplace dispute in which allegations of bullying against the plaintiffs were investigated.

While this process was going on, the workplace was the subject of union picket action in support of staff members who had made complaints about the plaintiffs. The psychiatric injuries to the plaintiffs were not disputed by the State; the question for the Court was whether the injuries resulted from any negligence on the part of the employer, with reference to the way in which the workplace conflict and investigation had been handled.

The State succeeded at first instance before District Court Judge McGill, but the four plaintiffs appealed the decision.

On 29 July 2016, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal with costs. A Crown Law legal article was published on 7 September 2016 setting out the key points of the appeal. Briefly, the Court accepted the plaintiffs’ argument that the State as employer owed a duty to provide each of them with psychological support while they were under investigation; however the plaintiffs all failed to prove that any alleged breach of this duty of care had caused their injuries.

On 1 September 2016, the four plaintiffs served applications on Crown Law seeking special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia.

On 15 December 2016, the High Court dismissed all four applications on the papers without the need for an oral hearing.

The outcome

The four plaintiffs have now exhausted all appeal processes available to them.

A further legal article will be provided shortly, including a ‘what next’ analysis.