Having suffered a slip and fall accident at work, Mrs L Lonie from Edinburgh approached her union, Unison, and was referred to Thompsons so that we could pursue her claim for personal injury compensation.
The background
Mrs Lonie was employed by the City of Edinburgh Council as a school administrator. On the day of the accident, 30 August 2018, she had left her office to go to lunch. She had been walking down a corridor with a colleague towards the school dining hall when she slipped and fell.
Having fallen forward, Mrs Lonie immediately felt significant pain and nauseous. She had pins and needles in her hands and was feeling confused. Her colleague noticed what looked like a squashed piece of fruit on the floor where Mrs Lonie had slipped.
Another colleague arrived to assist our client and she was helped back to her office as she could not put weight on her knee. She decided that the injury to her leg needed to be investigated at hospital and she called her husband to assist her. However, the pain was getting worse and an ambulance was called to take our Mrs Lonie to the Accident and Emergency unit at The Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
X-rays confirmed that our client had suffered a fractured kneecap (transverse patella) and although initially advised that it would require surgery, Mrs Lonie received a splint to help the knee injury heal.
Mrs Lonie was unable to work for more than six weeks and spent around five of those unable to put weight on the injured knee.
The settlement
Mrs Lonie informed us that the flooring in the school corridor was more than 50 years old and was polished regularly. She told us that the flooring is "treacherous when it's wet" and that she knew of numerous slipping accidents among adults and children who had to use the corridor.
We intimated a claim for the workplace accident with reference to the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and the Workplace (Health Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992.
Liability was admitted pre-litigation and our client accepted a work accident compensation settlement offer of £13,000 from the defender on 23 August 2021.
