Nicole Funnell was left bloodied and bruised by an attempted robbery at the Gold Coast jewellery store where she worked.

"My hands were bleeding because I held the necklace that tight," she tells ABC RN's Law Report.

The man who'd tried to snatch the jewellery from her ran away, but the nightmare didn't end for Ms Funnell. Her injuries were also psychological.

"I felt violated by this person," she says.

"I went home and I was a mess, I just lost it. I've never been the same since.

"I lost all my confidence. I can't stand loud noises — if I hear noises I jump. And I'm hypervigilant. I'm always looking who is over my shoulder."

She went on to sue her employer — and was awarded $270,000 in compensation, with a court finding they failed in their duty of care.

Now, she's speaking out to raise awareness and attempt to protect others from a similar trauma.

'I was screaming in my sleep'

Ms Funnell had worked at Michael Hill jewellers in the Helensvale shopping centre for two years when the attempted robbery unfolded in 2015.

"I was happy-go-lucky, fine, bubbly, talked to everyone … I actually thought I was going to retire at Michael Hill, I loved that job so much," she says.

She hasn't set foot in the shopping centre since.

Nicole says she always thought she'd work at the Michael Hill store until she retired. ( ABC News: Solua Middleton )

"My partner at the time was saying I was screaming in my sleep. Things just seemed to get worse and worse," Ms Funnell says.

She tried returning to work for the jeweller at a different store, but while driving to work on the second day found herself unable to breathe.

"I was swerving all over the road, I thought I was going to vomit," Ms Funnell says.

When she got home, she was "death white" and her partner "couldn't even lift my hands off the steering wheel".

"It was like I was frozen," she says.

Ms Funnell tried to work in other areas, like hospitality, but the trauma of the past quickly caught up with her.

Nicole Funnell says her employer never thanked her for saving the necklace. ( ABC News: Solua Middleton )

Sales policy vs safety policy

In 2019, Ms Funnell took her former employer to court.

Peter Gibson from Shine Lawyers, which represented Ms Funnell, says Michael Hill was found to have failed in its duty of care towards her.

"They could have foreseen that this type of incident could have occurred. They needed to take reasonable precautions," he says.

Mr Gibson says the legal case focused on what steps had been put in place to protect employees, and what the store could have done better to prevent Ms Funnell's injuries.

"The court said the simplest thing that could have been done by Michael Hill was to have a safety policy rather than just a sale process," Mr Gibson says.

For example, that could involve sighting ID "before any item valued more than $2,000 is taken out of a cabinet".

The policy at Michael Hill at the time was to sight ID for any item worth $20,000 or more.

On the day of the assault, Ms Funnell had taken a necklace, worth between $7,900 and $13,000, out of a cabinet.

While it wasn't protocol, she asked the potential customer for his licence as identification.

She says that's when the offender slammed the glass case with his fist and the "tug-of-war" with the necklace begun.

Mr Gibson says the problem with the store's policy was that "it was more framed as a sales technique" rather than as a safety policy, which she did more than comply with.

Ms Funnell agrees, and notes the stores' guidelines have changed to the reduced amount of $2,000.

"In the manual, it didn't say anything about armed robberies. You don't think of that at the time," she says.

"I did do the right thing. I didn't have to ask for the licence, but I did."

While the store had CCTV at the time Ms Funnell was working, there were no signs communicating that to the public — and thus no deterrent to potential offenders.

The store now displays signs about its security measures.

During the trial in Queensland's District Court, Ms Funnell's legal team also suggested the store needed a security officer, a different layout with fewer doors, and instructions to staff on how to respond to a suspicious customer.

Michael Hill Jewellers declined to comment to the ABC.

But according to a judge's summary of the case, the company believed those suggestions were "impractical" because of cost, inconvenience, or a potential effect on the business.

Judge David Kent found Ms Funnell's injury "was avoidable had the defendant adopted earlier its present policy of requiring customers to produce identification" and "having this as a safety policy rather than merely part of the sales process".

The court awarded her $270,000 in compensation.

A life changed forever

After her failed stint in hospitality, Ms Funnell tried delivering food and driving cars for Uber.

"I used to get the regular people who would go to work," she recalls saying she didn't have "any episodes" and people were "really, really friendly".

She is now a full-time carer for her parents.

"I'm not the same person I used to be," she says.

She says there was "no 'thank you' for saving the jewellery".

"If I had have known what I know now, my life would have been a bit different," she says.

"I should have just let him take the jewellery and go, but I didn't because I take pride in what I do and I don't like people stealing.

"I protected that piece of jewellery, and it affected my life."