Settlement for life changing orthopaedic injuries in a workplace accident

I was pleased recently to conclude a claim for a client who sustained severe orthopaedic injuries in a workplace accident. The defendant made major allegations of contributory negligence against my client but these were effectively resisted and a reasonable settlement was achieved.  This case served as a reminder that claimants should think carefully before accepting any discount for contributory negligence in employer’s liability cases.

The accident

I acted for Daniel. Daniel worked as a labourer for an events company. As part of his job he regularly had to clear up events by loading goods onto heavy goods vehicles. On the day of the accident, he was asked to help load a stack of approximately twelve heavy tables onto a lorry. Unfortunately, these tables had not been properly secured to the pallet they were stood on. As a result, whilst being lifted into the cargo bay of the lorry, the tables fell from about 2 metres high and landed on Daniel. He was knocked to the ground and crushed underneath the weight of them.

Daniel was taken by ambulance to King’s College Hospital and provided with emergency care. He was diagnosed with a scaphoid fracture in his wrist and a left femoral neck fracture in his hip. He required multiple surgeries and had a long inpatient stay. Daniel found the accident traumatic and subsequently suffered a serious decline in his mental health.

The claim

I was instructed whilst Daniel was still in hospital. My immediate priority was obtaining rehabilitation for him. Fortunately, the defendant agreed to provide rehabilitation under the Rehabilitation Code. This meant that Daniel had access to private physiotherapy and mental health support fully funded from an early stage in his case.

The defendant also admitted liability for the accident at the outset. However, it alleged contributory negligence against Daniel. It served witness statements from two of Daniel’s co-workers claiming that he had not been paying attention at the time of the accident. The co-workers stated they had instructed Daniel to get himself out of harm’s way but he had ignored them. On the basis of this evidence, the defendant argued that Daniel’s compensation should be reduced by 40%.

I obtained witness evidence from Daniel. His version of events was different. He did not recall anyone telling him to move away; in fact quite the opposite. His evidence was that he had been given instructions to put himself next to the tables in order to help load them onto the lorry.

Separately, I instructed medical experts to report on Daniel’s medical prognosis. The opinion of the experts was that, whilst in the short to medium term Daniel was likely to make a reasonable recovery, unfortunately within the next 5 to 10 years he was likely to develop avascular necrosis in his hip. He would therefore on the balance of probability need to undergo a total hip replacement in the future. This would be a major operation which he would need substantial time out as well as additional rehabilitation to recover from.

Settlement

Daniel had no desire to become involved in protracted litigation. Fortunately, I was able to negotiate a reasonable settlement at a relatively early stage in the claim, which factored in the future costs of the total hip replacement Daniel would need as well as his other losses.

Within the settlement discussions, Daniel accepted no more than a 10% reduction to the value of his claim to account for the contributory negligence allegations against him. This was a much more reasonable concession than the 40% the defendant contended for. Ultimately, the court expects employers to take responsibility for the health and safety of their workers. Daniel could not be blamed for the unsafe system of work that had allowed the tables to be stacked onto a pallet without anything in place to secure them.

If you have suffered an accident at work, obtaining legal support may help you to obtain access to rehabilitation and an acceptance of liability for your injuries. Call our personal injury team on 020 7940 4000 if you wish to discuss making a claim.

*The names and certain details have been amended in this post to protect confidentiality.