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An employer should have provided more "positive support" to a worker after he was assaulted by his supervisor, a court has ruled in awarding him $148k in damages for a psychological injury.

The Queensland Corrective Services custodial corrections officer sought damages for negligence, claiming the employer breached its duty of care in failing to protect him from a foreseeable risk of harm.

The Queensland District Court heard that in January 2017, the employee and a supervisor disagreed on whether a particular prisoner could have a 'contact' or 'non-contact' visit, which resulted in the supervisor punching him "in the guts".

After the incident, the supervisor allegedly said to his subordinates something along the lines of, "I've just had to accost [the employee]. I don't want to have to do it to anyone else"...