Richard Long, Senior Partner, recently acted for a Client claiming damages against his employer arising out of a serious accident at work.
The Claimant suffered a savage crush injury to his right leg when a concrete block fell on him.
Liability was admitted by the Claimant’s employer soon after the claim was intimated.
Quantifying the claim was somewhat complicated because of the Claimant’s erratic work history. Whilst having good qualifications for his particular skill the Claimant could not show a consistent work history. As against that the Claimant was able to point to his reasonable expectation of earning good wages in the future based on data provided by the Government.
The Claimant’s loss of wages from the date of the accident to the date of settlement was not straightforward given his employment history.
The main issue proved to be whether or not the Claimant could return to his pre accident job. The Claimant’s case was that he was not going to be able to return to his pre accident job but this was contested by the Defendant’s solicitors. This issue proved to be a depressant to the Claimant’s future loss claim resulting in a compromise.
Other heads of claims were straightforward. The claim involved a complicating feature in that the Defendant/employer reacted extremely aggressively to the Claimant’s claim resulting in threats to kill the Claimant.
The claim was subsequently settled after Proceedings were issued on the basis of a six figure sum paid to the Claimant in respect of all heads of claim. A reasonable settlement was reached.