The claimant had been involved in several incidents during the course of her work as a residential social worker having been assaulted a number of times by a young resident. The resident had a history of violence, and it was alleged that the claimant had not had proper training, and the resident was in the wrong environment.
The case came to trial on 16 April but settled at the door of the court for £65,000. The case had been strengthened by pre-action disclosure documents that revealed a history of violence to members of staff.
Another protection from harassment case success
Although this case settled shortly before trial for a modest sum it is worth mentioning because it is yet another case where we have recovered compensation under the Protection from Harassment Act, following the case of Conn a few months ago.
The claimant was employed as a building attendant and complained that he had been subjected to numerous incidents of bullying and harassment. We complained that the harasser had pursued a course of misconduct that amounted to harassment of the claimant, which he knew or ought to have known would amount to harassment under Section 1 of the Protection from Harassment Act. The claimant had raised a grievance against the harasser but the complaint was not upheld. The defendants produced 11 witness statements all saying that the alleged harassment had not occurred. Apart from the evidential difficulties there was the problem of whether the court would have agreed that ‘there was a serious conduct that would amount to criminal conduct’ (as stated by Lord May in the Majrowski case).
Kernon -v- Gateshead Council.