Adelaide council worker’s breathtaking compensation win after she tripped and fell while working from HOME

A council staffer who broke her arm and hurt her leg while working from home when she tripped over her puppy fence has won a claim for workers compensation.

Lauren Vercoe, an asset programmer for Adelaide’s City of Charles Sturt Council, was working from home on September 19, 2022, when the accident happened. 

Ms Vercoe had put up a 60cm metal pet fence across the doorway to her sun room, which she used as a home office.

The fence was erected to keep a colleague’s puppy, who she was dog-sitting, away from her pet rabbit.

Ms Vercoe started work around 8.30am and rose to make a coffee around an hour later.

But, as she stepped over the fence, one of her feet caught it, causing her to lose balance.

She tried to break her fall but failed and landed with her full weight on her right knee and her right side, experiencing ‘instant and extreme pain’.

Her husband rang an ambulance and she was taken to Royal Adelaide Hospital where she was treated for a fractured arm, a suspected dislocated shoulder and a painful right knee before being discharged later that day.

Her initial claim for compensation against Local Government Association Workers Compensation Scheme was rejected in October 2022. 

But in a judgment handed down by the South Australian Employment Tribunal on 18 October, Ms Vercoe’s injury was found to have arisen from her employment.

Auxiliary Deputy President Magistrate Jodie Carrel found the fall occurred during an ‘authorised coffee break at her place of employment’.

‘This was something Ms Vercoe says she would have done had she been working in the office around the same time, as she did not have set times for short breaks over the course of her working day,’ Magistrate Carrel noted. 

The decision noted that it didn’t matter that Ms Vercoe had erected the pet fence without telling her employer. 

‘The fact Ms Vercoe created the workplace hazard the day prior, and unbeknown to the Council, does not preclude a finding that it is an employment-related cause,’ Magistrate Carrel noted.

The judgment agreed with Ms Vercoe’s submission that she ‘fell during the course of a paid break’ and that her ‘injuries arose out of or in the course of her employment’.

‘Ms Vercoe submitted that it was not to the point whether the council had provided the pet fence, known about the pet fence, or told Ms Vercoe to erect the pet fence,’ the judgment noted.

‘Simply, there is nothing that limits the application of the workers compensation scheme by reason of an injury occurring due to a feature of the workplace not known or authorised by an employer. ‘ 

Ms Vercoe’s husband rang an ambulance and she was taken to Royal Adelaide Hospital where she was treated for a fractured arm, a suspected dislocated shoulder and a painful right knee before being discharged later that day

Two years before her accident Ms Vercoe changed her cover photo to a picture of an young girl wearing angel wings accompanied by a quote from poet Erin Hanson (pictured)

In her evidence, Ms Vercoe also shared screenshots of a council video about flexible working arrangements which encouraged employees to ‘take regular breaks, ‘get out in the sunshine’ and ‘enjoy time with the dog’.

Magistrate Carrel also criticised the legal firm who initially rejected Ms Vercoe’s compensation claim for suggesting ‘she exaggerated her evidence when convenient’.

‘Rather, Ms Vercoe is a worker who has done her best to get on with things after suffering a significant injury,’ Magistrate Carrel noted.

Ms Vercoe returned to work after six weeks.

The amount of compensation she is owed will be decided at a later date. 

Two years before her accident Ms Vercoe changed her social media profile to a picture of a young girl wearing angel wings accompanied by a quote from poet Erin Hanson.

‘What if I fall? Oh, but my darling, what if you fly?’ the caption reads.

 Daily Mail Australia has approached Ms Vercoe for comment.