Coles shopper who SUED the supermarket after slipping on a LETTUCE LEAF in the aisles loses court battle despite claiming she ‘suffered a whole person impairment’
- Coles shopper who slipped on lettuce has lost her legal bid for compensation
- Kanwaleen Bhelley claims she injured her knee and back in the fall in May 2020
- Medical panel ruled she didn’t meet threshold required for compensation
- She lodged an appeal to the court, alleging panel made jurisdictional errors
- Victoria’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of panel and dismissed appeal
A Melbourne woman who claimed she injured her knee and back after she slipped on a piece of lettuce during a trip to the supermarket has lost her legal bid for compensation.
Kanwaleen Bhelley, 43, claimed she suffered a whole person impairment (WPI) of more than five per cent following the order at a Coles store at Wyndham Vale in May 2020.
Ms Bhelley’s medical reports supporting her claim that her impairment from the fall exceeded five per cent were rejected by the supermarket giant, which referred the case to a medical panel which assessed her in 2021.
The panel found Ms Bhelley suffered age-related degenerative changes to her spine and sacroiliac joints associated with rehabilitation treatment of her right knee.
The panel ruled her condition was stable and that she didn’t meet the WPI threshold required for compensation.
A Melbourne woman who slipped on lettuce at a Coles store at Wyndham Vale had her bid for compensation dismissed
Ms Bhelley lodged an appeal against the decision in the Victorian Supreme Court, alleging the panel made jurisdictional errors.
‘In particular, she alleges that, in finding that her injuries did not satisfy the threshold level, the Panel either did not apply the Guides; mistook or misapplied the provisions of the Guides; or made a finding that was not open to it, or which was unreasonable,’ court documents state.
‘Mrs Bhelley submitted that, absent such error, the panel would have determined that her degree of whole person impairment resulting from her spinal injury was 5%, satisfying the significant injury threshold and in turn entitling her to claim noneconomic loss damages.’
Ms Bhelley claimed her injuries from the supermarket fall in 2020 caused pain, restricted her movement and limited her attendance at concerts and her temple.
Kanwaleen Bhelley claimed she suffered injuries to her back and right knee after slipping on a piece of lettuce at Coles (stock image)
She also alleged she could only drive for about an hour before experiencing lower back pain and did not run in fear of causing pain to her right knee.
‘She can stand for about 10 minutes before she has to stretch her back,’ the panel wrote in their report.
‘She can walk for about 30 minutes, (but) after about 500m she notices mild right knee pain, so stops walking to sit or stand for about 10 minutes.’
‘She can traverse stairs without difficulty, using alternate stair treads for both ascending and descending, with no lower back or right knee issues.’
Judge Andrea Tsalamandris acknowledged Ms Bhelley could still be suffering symptoms or complaints since the fall two years ago.
But she ruled the panel had not erred in their assessment and dismissed Ms Bhelley’s appeal when she handed down her judgment on Friday.
‘It was open to the panel to determine that Ms Bhelley’s complaints and symptoms were most appropriately categorized,’ Judge Tsalamandris wrote.
‘I am not satisfied that there was a jurisdictional error made by the panel, and therefore dismiss this application.’
A shopper has lost her legal bid for compensation from Coles (stock image of a Coles store)
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