Accident At Work Compensation Claim

Luiz Sergio Domingues Forster V Hilton Uk Hotels Ltd (2004)

The claimant, a 38-year-old man, received £4,000 for the comminuted toe fracture sustained in an accident at work in December 2002. The claimant could not return to work for two months and his toe was discoloured for four months. He suffered from impaired mobility and daily pain in his toe as a result of his condition.

Claimant: Male: 37 years old at date of accident; 38 years old at date of settlement.
Employers' Liability: On 21 December 2002, during the course of his employment with the defendant, the claimant was carrying a heavy, metal rimmed half-moon table with (A). Whilst moving the table, A dropped his end without warning and as a result the claimant was unable to maintain control of the table causing it to fall onto his right foot.

The claimant sustained injury and brought an action against the defendant alleging that its employee was negligent, which caused the accident.

Liability disputed. The defendant alleged that the accident did not take place in the manner contended by the claimant. The defendant submitted that the claimant was watching two colleagues move the table when it slipped from their hands, and that the claimant's foot was injured because he was standing too close

Injuries: The claimant suffered from a comminuted intra-articulo fracture of the distal phalanx of his right toe in the accident.

Effects: Immediately following the accident, the claimant suffered from pain in the big toe of his right foot. He applied ice to his toe and he was sent home and told to take painkillers.

At approximately 3am the following day, the claimant woke in excruciating pain. He was taken to hospital where his foot was x-rayed and his fracture was diagnosed. His toe was strapped and he was discharged and prescribed painkillers.

The claimant was absent from work for two months following the accident, and it took four months for the discoloration of his toe to resolve.

Prognosis: Following the accident, the claimant suffered pain in his toe on a daily basis. He experienced cold intolerance in his foot and he could not walk as far as he could prior to the accident. It was estimated that there was a ten per cent chance that the claimant would develop arthritis in his toe within the next ten years.
Out of Court Settlement: £4,000 total damages

Breakdown of General Damages: Pain, suffering and loss of amenity: £3,500; Past travel expenses/gratuitous care costs/miscellaneous expenses: £500.

Background to damages: The claimant made a CPR Part 36 offer to settle the claim in the sum of £6,217.82, which was rejected by the defendant. The defendant then produced a statement from A that was intended to cast doubt upon the claimant's version of events. However, A confirmed that he had been carrying a table with the claimant although he suggested that it was the claimant who had dropped the table. A formal admission of liability was requested from the defendant within seven days, failing which proceedings would be served. Negotiations followed and the claim was settled in the sum of £4,000.

Out of Court Settlement 17/2/2004

LTLPI 7/4/2004 (Unreported elsewhere)

Document No.: AM0200586