Baby safety employee to proceed to obtain assault compensation regardless of convictions

A former employee of the South Australian Department of Child Protection who used her government position to threaten to steal a couple’s baby unless they file a robbery complaint against their partner will continue to receive compensation for her time at the agency.

Important points:

• Vicky Morris was declared incapacitated for work in 2002 following a workplace robbery
• She was convicted of drug trafficking in 2017 and was found to have threatened her parents in 2018
• A judge has ruled that her incapacity to work means she should still receive compensation

The woman – Vicky Lorraine Morris – has fought off an appeal by the Department for Child Protection to stop her weekly payments for an injury and post-traumatic stress disorder caused by an attack while she was working there.

She received $ 319,000 in compensation for the attack the previous year in 2003 and then received weekly payments in 2015.

In 2017 she was found guilty of the methamphetamine trafficking, and in 2018 a judge ruled that she was visiting the home of a couple who threatened their partner with a knife while one of them was holding their baby.

He stole a laptop and a cell phone from them.

Morris pretended to represent the division “and left them with the impression that their child would be taken away if they did not withdraw the charges immediately,” the judge wrote in the decision.

“The victims, who escaped from a corrupt regime and were therefore prone to intimidation by those who appear to have government authority, spoke of Ms. Morris’s persuasive and heartbreaking attempts to secure their cooperation,” the judge wrote.

However, the judge allowed her to continue to receive compensation as the Return to Work Act only allowed the suspension of payments “for a reciprocity violation when an employee retains some ability to work”.

Morris was declared incapacitated in 2015.

Her employment with the Ministry of Child Protection ended in 2018 after her drug trafficking conviction.

Morris “totally unable to work”

In a decision issued on Wednesday, the Tribunal’s Deputy President Mark Calligeros agreed with the judge’s original decision that Morris could continue to receive compensation.

He agreed that she was “completely incapacitated for work at all relevant times due to an occupational accident,” so any argument about her “egregious” behavior was debatable.

He said the department could have argued that Morris “had some work ability” because she was involved in the drug trade, but it did not.

The Vice Presidents of the Tribunal, Margaret Kelly and Miles Crawley, approved Judge Calligeros’ decision.

The department spokesman said it would “conduct a full and detailed review of the court ruling and assess the most appropriate measure”.