A British scientist who lost both legs and an arm to meningococcal disease while working in a Wellington laboratory in 2005 has been awarded $117,000 in compensation by ACC.
Her medical costs of $330,000 will also be covered.
In a report released yesterday after a second investigation, the Labour Department admitted that Jeannette Adu-Bobie was probably infected during her work at an Environment Science and Research (ESR) laboratory in Porirua.
This is an about-face from the department's early report into the incident, which said it was "extremely unlikely" she contracted the disease there.
It was a "tragic coincidence", the department said at the time.
Dr Adu-Bobie had always maintained she was infected in the laboratory.
Dr Adu-Bobie's lawyer, John Miller, said her ACC claim had now been accepted and she would receive $117,000 in compensation and $330,000 in medical costs.
Department of Labour occupational health chief adviser Geraint Emrys has not ruled out also making a payout to Dr Adu-Bobie, but said at this stage no approaches had been made.
Mr Miller told The Dominion Post that by accepting ACC compensation, Dr Adu-Bobie would forgo the right to sue.
An expert on meningococcal vaccines, Dr Adu-Bobie had been in New Zealand only 20 days and at ESR about seven working days when she contracted meningococcal septicaemia in March 2005.
She spent several months in hospital and had both legs, her left arm and the digits of her right hand amputated.
The wider review of the issue confirmed the original investigation findings that the strain of the organism that infected Dr Adu-Bobie was indistinguishable from the one she worked with in the laboratory and the epidemic strain present in New Zealand.
The department agreed to review the original investigation after Dr Adu-Bobie pointed out research that suggested lab workers had a higher risk of infection.
The latest investigation also took into account a report commissioned by ACC.
That report concluded that the balance of probabilities "overwhelmingly" suggested she contracted the disease through her laboratory work".
"There is no compelling evidence that this infection was contracted anywhere else," Dr Emrys said in his report.
However, the exact cause of the infection remained unknown.
Like previous investigators, he had been unable to find any faults with the ESR's safety systems.
Labour Department regional manager Mike Munnelly said he regretted the failure of the original investigation "to reach what now appears a reasonable conclusion" and he apologised to Dr Adu-Bobie for any distress this may have caused.
NZPA