Teacher won £200,000 damages pay-out after slipping on a grape

Published by Ross Macmillan for 24dash.com in Education

A teacher won £200,000 in compensation last year after slipping on a grape, according to new figures.

Another, who fell on spilt food on a school canteen floor was awarded £100,000.

The cases are examples of compensation claims which saw teachers win millions of pounds in compensation in 2010 for accidents, injuries, assaults or unfair dismissal at school.

The teacher who slipped on a grape left on a stairwell received the six-figure sum because the injury aggravated an existing hernia problem.

He was eventually unable to work because of chronic pain.

The National Union of Teachers (NUT), which represented the teacher, said the payout covered loss of earnings and pension.

"Evidence showed that the school were aware of littering problems around the school but had not taken action to prevent or minimise it," the union said.

Another NUT member was also awarded compensation for slipping on a grape, this time in a corridor, according to figures reported in the Times Educational Supplement.

She won £20,000 after fracturing her hip.

Separate figures from the NASUWT teaching union, provided to the Press Association, show that one of their members, a 49-year-old from the West Midlands received a settlement of £100,000 after suffering from a compressed disc in her back when she slipped on spilt food on the school's lunch hall floor.

Another NASUWT member received £80,000 after slipping in a school dining room, fracturing bones in her leg, tearing ligaments behind her knee and damaging nerves. She was unable to return to teaching.

The biggest single out-of-court settlement awarded to an NASUWT member for a personal injury claim in 2010 was £292,795.

This was awarded to a 40-year-old who tripped on a pothole in a school car park, injuring his back. He had to undergo surgery and has been unable to return to work.

In an assault case, £202,108 was received by a 51-year-old who was injured in November 2004 as she tried to stop a fight between two pupils.

One of the pupils attacked her and she suffered injuries to her back and shoulder. She also developed mental anxiety and was unable to return to work.

In employment claims, the union obtained a settlement of £35,417 for a 50-year-old teacher in the North West, after unfair dismissal following gender reassignment steps.

In total, NASUWT members were handed £10.5 million for compensation cases completed in 2010.

NASUWT general secretary Chris Keates said: "The level of compensation is no cause for celebration.

"What this figure illustrates is the cost to the public purse of employers' poor or discriminatory employment practices and failure to pay due regard to health and safety in the workplace.

"Behind each of these cases is a person whose life has been changed through serious injury or unfair dismissal from their chosen career.

"Compensation is important but it is cold comfort if your health is irreparably damaged or your professional career has ended."

The NUT publishes only a small sample of personal injury cases, which in 2010 totalled compensation of £2.5 million.

NUT general secretary Christine Blower said: "The reason for their publication is to reflect the spectrum of problems teachers can experience in the workplace, not to contribute to a league table of compensation wins."

The biggest payout to an NUT member last year was £459,000 to a teacher who was injured in 2002 as she approached a pupil wielding a metre rule in order to restrain him. The student had been threatening classmates.

The youngster spun round and pushed the teacher on to a filing cabinet which had handles sticking out. The member severely injured her back and, despite an operation, her condition deteriorated and she became wheelchair-bound.

The teacher was able to return to work only part-time.

Another NUT member working at a residential boys' school was awarded more than £426,000 after being sprayed in the face with an aerosol can by a pupil.

As well as suffering breathing difficulties, he suffered depression and anxiety.

He was awarded £253,336 plus £173,231 for future loss of earnings.