Circumstances of the accident
We acted on behalf of a client who was sexually assaulted by a service user whilst working as a residential care worker.
Whilst our client’s physical injuries were relatively minor, the psychological impact was significant, to the extent that she would be unable to return to employment in a residential care setting, due to residual trauma-based symptoms.
Our client’s employer admitted liability for the accident but failed to put forward any reasonable offers to settle the claim.
How we helped our client
We raised a Court action to ensure that our client was appropriately compensated.
We obtained medical evidence from a consultant psychiatrist. This concluded that our client was at risk of relapse if she returned to work in a residential care setting due to residual psychological symptoms.
Whilst our client had returned to work in the same sector, her residual earnings capacity was lessened because of the trauma of what happened to her. We obtained reports from a vocational expert and an actuary to comment upon the future lost earnings and pension loss that she would sustain due to her incapacity to do the same job as before, and, hence, lower earning capacity.
Settlement
The initial offer of settlement was £40,000. We were able to achieve damages worth over double the initial offer, in the sum of £90,000. This provided appropriate compensation for both the injuries element of our client’s claim, and, importantly, her future wage loss and pension loss claims.
