Robert Burton
At the end of 2022, a woman, Ms C, was working as a music and dance teacher at an independent school.
Her job involved using a piano, which she always left out ready to play. At the time of the accident, someone had pushed the piano against the wall, so she had to manoeuvre it away to be able to play it.
When moving the piano, it didn’t glide smoothly and fell over onto her foot, causing a severe injury to her foot and significantly cutting her finger as she tried to catch it with her hand. A groundsman attended and gave Ms C ice, and then a colleague took her to A & E.
The injury to her finger healed in a couple of weeks, but she had suffered a significant crush injury to her foot, which caused considerable pain and difficulties. She attended an orthopaedic surgeon on three occasions during the following three years, undergoing treatment in between the visits. She took painkillers and had to use a crutch. The injury also became badly infected, and she had to attend hospital and her GP weekly for several weeks.
Ms C was only 37 years old at the time of the accident and has not recovered to a point where she can teach dance and drama again. She struggles walking for more than an hour, cannot drive for long periods, which affects her independence, and cannot depress the piano foot properly due to the pain. She is now limited to sedentary and light manual work with intermittent walking.
The orthopaedic surgeon has determined that she had pre-exiting arthritis in the injured foot, which only became symptomatic because of the accident.
Ms C had to take about eight weeks off work and changed the type of work she does.
After the accident, a colleague mentioned that the piano had wobbled, but didn’t fall, when she had moved it the week before and the bursar said that there was something caught in the wheel. Regardless of the cause, following the accident, the piano was put on safety wheels facing outwards.
Ms C contacted Graysons and Robert Burton took up her case. He contacted the school, claiming that it had been negligent and in breach of equipment and handling regulations and had not provided Ms C with a safe place and system of work, exposing her to unnecessary risk.
The school admitted liability quickly, but in October 2025, as the end of the limitation period was approaching, Robert issued court proceedings, which were served in January 2026.
The school decided to settle the case and offered an initial amount of £80,000. Robert is a tenacious negotiator and was able to agree a settlement of £100,000. The case settled in May 2026, and Ms C was pleased with the outcome.
If you have had an accident at work, you may be able to make a claim for compensation. Your employer has a duty to ensure that it is safe to do the job that you do and if it is not, the employer may be liable in negligence or breach of statutory duty. Contact our expert personal injury team now and we will offer you an appointment, free of charge, in which we can discuss your case and let you know of the likelihood of success. If we can take on your case, we will offer you a no-win, no-fee arrangement.
Author: Rober Burton
