Setfords were instructed to view a claim for damages due to the client suffering a psychiatric injury occasioned by work-related stress.
For this psychiatric injury claim, our client was a teacher at a school within a challenging catchment area with a record of poor results and historically poor Ofsted ratings.
As a result of the Ofsted assessment, the local authority brought in a monitoring and intervention team in an effort to turn around the school’s performance.
Due to the demands imposed by the MIT, following an already overstretched workforce, and without an effective leadership team in place, the mental health of several teachers began to deteriorate.
Our client found himself having to do increasingly long hours to balance his teaching role with an interim leadership role given to him by the MIT. Luckily, our client had the forethought to keep a diary record of the number of hours he worked.
He made various disclosures to the acting headteacher, and a number of his colleagues observed that he appeared to look unwell whilst at work. We argued that the combination of the disclosures to the head and the observations of the colleagues should have alerted the local authority that urgent intervention was required to prevent our client from suffering from a psychiatric injury.
Despite this, no adjustments were made to our client’s working conditions, and inevitably our client became increasingly unwell. He was subsequently signed off sick and never returned to work owing to the deterioration in his mental health.
Medical evidence was obtained supporting the severity of our client’s ill health. Whilst the local authority initially denied liability, negotiations resulted in an offer of damages of £100,000 being accepted by our client for this psychiatric injury claim. This was enough for him to achieve closure and obtain the psychiatric treatment he required to get better and move on to the next chapter of his life.
A quote from the client:
“Just wanted to confirm that the remaining funds lie safely in our account this week, and to thank you and everyone who has been involved in our case for your valuable input. We have been really impressed throughout, and the outcome will make life a lot easier for us for the foreseeable future.”
David Miers
Consultant Solicitor
T: 01513 180 329 or call 0330 058 4012
ext. 2696
E: dmiers@setfords.co.uk