Convicted letter-bomber Colin Dunstan has had a substantial win in the Federal Court after the court ordered a long-running compensation claim against his former employers should be heard yet again.
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Dunstan, 55, can now have his claim for worker's compensation re-considered in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and will seek continuing pay-outs that could run for years.
In 1998, the former public servant posted letter bombs to 28 people whom he believed had wronged him, including his ex-colleagues at the Australian Taxation Office, after a dispute with his employer.
One of the devices exploded at the Fyshwick mail centre and slightly injured a postal worker.
Dunstan was released from jail in 2008 and has pursued a compensation claim against workplace insurers Comcare seeking pay-outs for depression and harassment after a sexual relationship with an ATO colleague.
He also launched several other court proceedings against his former colleagues and the Taxation Office which have been dismissed in the territory's courts. His lawyers have argued that the office affair and Dunstan's employment at the ATO led their client to become depressive and suicidal.
Dunstan said he suffered a campaign of harassment from his ex-lover, a woman known only as Ms X, which included repeated phone calls at his home and office.
The tribunal was told the woman also parked in his street to watch his house, and followed him as he took his children to school.
Lawyers for Comcare argued Dunstan's employment did not contribute materially to his depression and the affair with Ms X, which had started at work, was carried out in their personal lives.
In June 2010 the Administrative Appeals Tribunal awarded him a year's pay in compensation but rejected other parts of his claim.
The tribunal found it did not have jurisdiction to decide those parts of the claim and there was no strong link between the affair and Dunstan's employment, because the affair and subsequent harassment mostly occurred outside the ATO.
But yesterday the Federal Court found the tribunal had erred and Dunstan should be allowed to pursue his claim for compensation dating to the 1990s and from 2008 onwards. It dismissed part of his appeal which related to a two-week period in May 1994.
Outside the court, Dunstan's barrister, Tim Crispin, described the judgment as a ''tremendous success'' for his client and said it clarified the law about the harassment that took place outside the workplace.
Dunstan said he was relieved and would return to the tribunal seeking further compensation pay-outs.
