Circumstances of the accident
Our client was working as a groundworker in Dundee on a building site. He was struck by the bucket of a digger which was operated by another employee. Our client was knocked to the ground.
Our client suffered multiple injuries, including soft tissue injuries to his head, neck, lower back and right arm and bruising to his elbow. He also suffered psychological symptoms following the incident, including flashbacks and nightmares. He was diagnosed with an adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood and displayed symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder due to the accident. He was recommended psychological treatment to help him recover.
Our client was unable to return to his employment as a groundworker due to his ongoing psychological symptoms. Unfortunately, his employment was terminated.
We raised an action against our client’s employer in respect of his accident and they admitted primary liability for what happened. However, they argued that our client had contributed to his accident as he failed to use a “thumbs up” system to signal to the operator of the digger. We argued that there were insufficient control measures in place to keep our client safe.
We obtained medical reports from an expert GP and an expert psychologist. We also obtain a report from an employment expert. The medical evidence supported that our client would be able to return to his pre-accident employment after treatment This allowed us to calculate his loss of earnings and any necessary treatment costs. We could then accurately value his claim and negotiate the best possible settlement for him.
Settlement
Following the disclosure of evidence, our client initially received an offer of £15,000. Through extensive investigations and negotiation, we negotiated a final settlement of £28,000 – almost twice the original offer. This provided appropriate compensation for both our client’s injuries, as well as his treatment costs and his loss of earnings.
