Our client, Susanne was working as a Barmaid at the time of the accident. Whilst serving, she handled a bottle of alcopop and suddenly, without warning, the bottle shattered in her hand causing a nasty cut.
Who was to blame?
There were two possibilities:-
- the manufacturer of the alcopop; and/or
- her employer
How we helped our client?
We notified claims to both our client's employer and the manufacturer. Both refused to accept liability. The shattered bottle was not kept and so it was not possible to get it analysed to find out the case of the breakage. This meant we could not prove why the bottle shattered. This made a claim against the manufacturer very difficult to prove. Also, we could not prove that the bottle shattered due to any defect in storage by her employer. So, we relied upon the Employer's Liability (Defective Equipment) Act 1969. This Act makes an employer absolutely liable for faulty products that are used as work equipment, such as the bottle of alcopop.
We instructed a medical report and then raised a court action against our client's employer. During the course of the court action, her employer's insurers agreed to settle the claim and she was awarded compensation with an updated value of £12,000.
Testimonial
Susanne said: "I was satisfied with the way Lindsays dealt with my claim, and very happy with the compensation that was awarded to me."
