Young chef looks for $268k in damages after ‘second-degree burns’ in Brisbane restaurant accident

A young chef is suing a Brisbane restaurant after she suffered second degree burns in a horrific workplace accident that put an end to her career. 

Katelyn Rewko was 21-years-old when she worked at Brisbane restaurant Cha Cha Char. 

Working there in 2017, she was asked to prepare a duck parfait cooked inside a tray of water in an oven. But to reach the oven, which was placed on top of a bench, she always needed to step onto a crate. 

On the say of the accident, she was asked to retrieve some dinner rolls that were warming in the oven, but pulled out the tray containing hot water instead, spilling it over her and badly burning both arms in just seconds. 

“Normally if I’m doing something that involves cooking with hot water I’d get one of the taller boys to get it out for me, but I thought it was just bread,” she told news.com.au.

“I had only just become qualified and it was the first kitchen I’d ever worked in, so I was under the impression it (the oven position) was normal. 

“Whenever I questioned anything I got in trouble so I would do what I was told, put my head down and not complain.” 

The restaurant called Rewko’s mother to pick her up after the accident. 

Describing it as the “most pain I’ve ever felt before”, she said the blistering on her arms became infected as she did not receive “proper treatment”. 

It took about a month before she was able to go back to work, she says, but was in so much pain she was unable to work at full capacity and felt she had no choice but to quit. 

“I’m scared I’m not good enough anymore because I’ve been out of the industry for nearly three years, and I’m angry that I’ve lost this many years when I could have excelled more,” she told  news.com.au.

Rewko is now suing for $268,820 in damages for “personal injuries sustained in the course of her employment with the defendant and occasioned by the negligence, breach of duty and/or breach of contract of the defendant”, according to a document supplied by her legal representation Shine Lawyers. 

“Placing an oven more than five feet (152cm) off the ground in a busy kitchen is an obvious problem - common sense would dictate that this is a dangerous location,” senior solicitor Luke Pearcy told news.com.au. 

“It causes a high degree of risk for any chef or kitchenhand, especially one like Katelyn who has to reach up above her eye level to remove all manner of dishes and desserts. As a result, she has obtained serious burns from scorching hot water.

“Not having a first-aid supply at hand has also meant her injuries were not treated in the most appropriate manner from the outset.”

Sheridan Randall, 26^th September 2019