Ross Lovell Elphick was 33 and enjoying the easiest job he ever had when his legs were twisted while he was emptying boxes from a large cage in June 2006, Acting Judge Barrie Hungerford said.

Mr Elphick suffered a lower back injury as a result of his legs being twisted.

He said he felt OK immediately after the accident and continued working with a pain that ran through his right hip and buttocks.

He was unable to work in the days after the accident because he could hardly move, Sydney District Court heard.

Acting Judge Hungerford ordered the company contracted to clean the shopping centre, All Cleaning and Security, to pay Mr Elphick $525,658.

Mr Elphick also sued Westfield, but Acting Judge Hungerford ruled that "Westfield owed no relevant duty of care to [Mr Elphick]."

"[Mr Elphick] was simply following the system of work laid down and using the equipment with which he was provided," Acting Judge Hungerford said.

Mr Elphick has not been employed since he stopped working at the shopping centre five months after the accident.

By then, his back was constantly sore with pain radiating down his right thigh and eventually spread to his left leg, the court heard.

Acting Judge Hungerford said Mr Elphick "displayed a keen desire to re-enter the workforce . . . and his motivation to do so could not be doubted".