Boyes Turner’s accident at work claims lawyers secured a compensation settlement for a care coordinator from her employers after she was assaulted by an intruder at her place of work.
She suffered puncture wounds, lacerations, bruising and whiplash, and severe psychological injury when she was grabbed by the throat and choked, stabbed with a needle, punched and spat on by the intruder. The attack was terrifying and she feared for her life. She then had to undergo testing over 26 weeks for HIV or Hepatitis A and B.
She remained severely traumatised after the ordeal, with distressing memories of the assault. Constant fear of attack led her to change her physical appearance. She was diagnosed with post-traumatic-stress disorder (PTSD) and couldn’t return to work or travel alone for over a year. Our medical experts thought she would make a full recovery within 2-3 years of the assault.
In many cases, victims of violent crime can only claim compensation for their injuries from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA), but in this case we believed our client was entitled to compensation from her employers. Her place of work had frequently been mistaken for a neighbouring drug clinic and had a track record of security lapses and break-ins by drug-users. Several members of staff had requested security improvements, including the installation of CCTV and intercoms. These requests had not been met when our client was assaulted.
We pursued a claim for our client on the basis that her employers had failed in their duty to provide their employees with both a safe system of work and a safe place to work. Their failure had exposed our client to unnecessary risk of assault/injury. The claim succeeded and our client received an out-of-court compensation settlement from her employers.
If you or someone in your family have suffered serious injury caused by someone else’s negligence and you would like to find out more about making a claim, you can talk to one of our specialist solicitors, free and confidentially, by contacting us here.
