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Index March 21, 2008
Landmark ruling - Employer liable for injured worker’s suicide"Companies will have to take action to look after the mental health of workers who suffer a physical accident at work, following a landmark ruling on employers’ liability in suicide cases."Employer liable for injured worker’s subsequent suicideCompanies will have to take action to look after the mental health of workers who suffer a physical accident at work, following a landmark ruling on employers’ liability in suicide cases. On 27 February the House of Lords upheld a Court of Appeal judgement of March 2006 that Luton-based IBC Vehicles Ltd was responsible for the death of former employee Thomas Corr, who committed suicide as a result of depression he developed after an accident at the firm. In 1996, Mr Corr was almost decapitated by a metal panel from a defective machine at the firm, one of Bedfordshire’s biggest employers. He subsequently suffered from severe headaches, insomnia, bad temper, and depression. In May 2002, he jumped to his death from a high-rise car park. In April 2005, Mr Corr’s widow Eileen went to the High Court to sue for damages for the pain, suffering, and eventual loss caused by the accident and subsequent suicide of her husband. IBC, which makes vehicles for Vauxhall and others, admitted responsibility for the accident but not for the suicide. Mrs Corr was awarded £82,520 in damages but she appealed, leading to the Court of Appeal’s ruling that IBC was responsible for the suicide. Upholding that judgement, Lord Bingham said: “Mr Corr’s suicide [was] the response of a man suffering from a severely depressive illness that had impaired his capacity to make reasoned and informed judgements about his future, such illness being a consequence of IBC’s tort. It was not unfair to hold IBC responsible for that dire consequence of its breach of duty.” Trevor Sterling, of Unite solicitors Rowley Ashworth, who took the case on Mrs Corr’s behalf, commented: “This is a landmark case, demonstrating advancement in the knowledge and understanding of mental health issues”. Emotional support charity the Samaritans said job-related stress has “a serious and unrecognised impact on people’s health” and urged employers and employees to “speak out and discuss problems before they escalate”. http://www.shponline.co.uk/article.asp?pagename=news&article_id=7313 Back to Article Index |