Farleys’ personal injury specialists were approached by Ms B after she suffered a serious injury as a result of an accident at work.

Background

Ms B was working as a cleaner at a school in Burnley, employed by Lancashire County Council. Her job included emptying bins from inside the school into large industrial wheelie bins outside. The wheelie bins were stored in a fenced off area where empty bins were stored on one side and full ones on another.

On the day on the accident, Ms B had gone to place rubbish into an external wheelie bin on the empty side of the storage cage only to find the wheelie bin was full. She then went to the other side to move what was meant to be an empty bin to the correct side. The bin was actually a full one and  the bin tipped and fell onto her, injuring her shoulder.

Ms B was seen at her local hospital where she was diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff and she required time off work as a result. She faced ongoing problems with her shoulder and, upon further investigations by medical professionals, she was found to have degenerative change in her shoulder caused by arthritis. She needed shoulder replacement surgery and there is a small chance of her needing further surgery.

How Farleys Were Able to Help

Ms B instructed Nick Molyneux of Farleys’ personal injury team to make a claim for compensation against her employer. Nick argued that the accident and subsequent injury occurred as a result of negligence by Ms B’s employer and that the replacement shoulder surgery would not be needed were it not for the accident.

Ms B’s employers denied liability so Nick and his team issued court proceedings. To add insult to injury, the court then lost the file which delayed the claim considerably.

We negotiated with Ms B’s employer and presented a settlement offer which was rejected by them. The claim then went to court and Ms B was awarded a higher settlement than the original settlement offered prior to the hearing. The court awarded Ms B in excess of £17,000 to cover the pain and suffering, loss of earnings, cost of travel to appointments, and the cost of care from her husband at home

Nick Molyneux commented,

We were pleased to have been able to assist Ms B through what was quite a traumatic experience, made more so by the denial of liability and loss of files. We hope Ms B now feels a sense of closure on her experience and is able to use the settlement to fund any further treatment or adjustments to her daily life she may need.

Contact a Personal Injury Solicitor

If you have been injured as a result of negligence by your employer, you may be entitled to make a claim for compensation. To discuss your case with an expert in accident at work claims, please call 0845 287 0939, contact the team by email or talk to us through the online chat below.