Last updated on November 30th, 2021 at 11:31 am

Mrs G worked as a carer for adults with autism and other disabilities. She was subjected to a prolonged attack by a large male that resulted an injury to her shoulder. Mrs G developed severe complex regional pain syndrome(CRPS) resulting in a ‘claw hand’ that was swollen and red, useless for the most part, and which resulted in severe loss of function.  She was left disabled. Mrs G contacted Graysons to make a claim against her employer as she believed her injuries were caused by the attack at work.

Employer denied liability after carer attacked

Our personal injury experts contacted the employer, but it denied liability saying that its risk assessment of her attacker did not confirm a real risk of injury to her. Mrs G said that she should not have been left alone with the patient, that more staff should have been present, and the risk of attack and injury was reasonably foreseeable.  The employer maintained that it was not negligent and had not breached its duty of care.

We issued court proceedings and the employer continued to deny liability.  It disclosed surveillance, purported to be of Mrs G, but some of which was actually her daughter, who was half her age, in order to discredit Mrs G.  The employer said that Mrs G’s claim was fraudulent and fundamentally dishonest and that she was grossly exaggerating her claim.

The employer then provided further surveillance evidence and expert reports that appeared to call Mrs G’s credibility into question, claiming she had a somatoform disorder and was imagining the pain.

We helped to overcome employer’s challenge of carer’s integrity

Mrs G’s integrity and reliability was challenged at every turn but with help from our experts, she persevered with the claim.  She had evidence from an orthopaedic surgeon, a chronic pain expert and psychiatrist.

On numerous occasions, the case appeared to lose prospects and Mrs G didn’t want to proceed. However, we were supportive and encouraging, and based on our experience and expertise, were sure that she would be successful in her claim.   Based on Mrs G’s own medical evidence, her employer eventually agreed to settle the claim and we successfully negotiated a settlement of £108,000.

Our experts’ encouragement also helped Mrs G to pursue medical assistance following her claim and she has recently had a bone impingement removed from one joint.  The claw hand has gone, and function is returning.  Mrs G is recovering psychologically, and she is considering work again. She feels that the success of the case has “changed her life” and that had she listened to some of the experts in this case, who said that she was imagining everything, she would have been “thrown on the scrap heap at 46”.

If you have had an accident at work and would like to claim compensation, please contact our personal injury experts now to arrange a free of charge interview in which we can discuss your case and the prospects of success.