£40,000 in compensation for care worker assaulted by resident

Truth Legal assisted a care worker with making a claim, after she was assaulted at work in a horrific attack which left her traumatised. She was punched repeatedly in the head and face by one of the residents she had been trying to help, and she suffered significant physical and psychological injuries.

Our specialist personal injury lawyers were able to recover £40,000 in compensation for her, claiming against her employers who had not done enough to protect her from such a situation.

Background to the assault

Mandy* worked night shifts at a home which provided care for teenage children with complex needs.

There were only two members of staff allotted to each night shift and concerns had been raised with the home’s management that this was insufficient for properly handling the duties required. Often, administrative tasks meant that one of those staff members would be tied down working on the computer in the office instead of helping with the needs of the residents. Additionally, the residents of the care home would habitually sleep during the day (when four members of staff were on duty) and would actually be awake and more active during the night.

One resident, C,* was a particular cause for concern; he was regularly under the influence of drugs and staff had noticed recent changes in his behaviour, suggesting he was now taking stronger drugs. He had a history of violence, criminal damage, and aggression, and a rise in aggressive incidents had been noted in his records.

Even though complaints had been made to management about the staffing levels at night, and concerns about C’s behaviour in particular, no action had been taken to help staff at the time of Mandy’s assault.

‘It was terrifying’

On the night of the assault, C returned to the home around midnight, clearly under the influence of a strong substance. Mandy and her colleague on the night shift (Lynne*) attended to him, but he became increasingly angry and began breaking items in the home. Just outside the office, he started screaming at the two care workers that he was going to stab them, whilst he continuing to break things. One item hit Lynne as C threw it across the room, and when Mandy went to help her, C became even more enraged. He pushed Mandy into a wall and began punching her repeatedly in the face and head.

Mandy was helpless. C was over a foot taller than her and whatever drugs he had taken seemed to have increased his strength alongside his aggression. She lost track of how many times he hit her. She was only dimly aware that she needed to stay upright because of all the broken glass, and to avoid the risk of being kicked or stabbed whilst she was on the ground.

Somehow – Mandy does not recall how – she and Lynne managed to get to the relative safety of the office and lock the doors. But, like a scene from a horror film, C continued to beat at the doors and windows, smashing two of the panes and yelling that he was going to stab them with the glass. Shaking with fear, Mandy and Lynne called the police. They also tried to summon additional help from the home’s management but they did not have a number for one manager, and another did not answer. One colleague did agree to come in, however, and arrived shortly after the police.

By the time police arrived, C had also smashed the care home’s car. The police arrested him and Mandy and Lynne were taken to hospital.

Mandy’s injuries

Mandy sustained a head injury with post-traumatic headaches. And due to the horrific nature of her attack, she developed post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression. Her psychological symptoms required extensive CBT treatment, and her injuries led to her being off work for several months.

Truth Legal’s involvement

Mandy contacted Truth Legal after the assault and was connected with Catherine Reynolds, the Head of Personal Injury at Truth Legal.

Catherine worked on Mandy’s case with diligence and determination and managed to get a full admission of liability from Mandy’s employer for their failings.  Catherine gathered a variety of evidence, including medical evidence to support the physical and psychological injuries Mandy suffered and evidence of her financial losses.

Catherine secured compensation for Mandy’s pain and suffering caused by her injuries and for the effect they had on her enjoyment of life. Additionally, compensation was recovered for Mandy’s loss of income.

Have you been assaulted at work?

If you have been assaulted at work and had to suffer the trauma, pain, and uncertainty of its aftermath, you may be able to claim compensation to help with moving on from the attack.

Truth Legal specialises in claims arising out of assaults at work.  If you would like to discuss your situation, contact us for a free, no-obligation consultation.