Stress at Work

These introduce two potential areas, namely claims for personal injury (not brought in Tribunals) and discrimination claims.

A word of caution – if a discrimination claim is brought in a Tribunal and the discriminatory acts relied upon are those which would form the basis of a personal injury action, then an employee is obliged to seek personal injury damages within the discrimination claim in Tribunal.

If a discrimination claim has NOT yet been brought, it must be considered whether to bring a personal injury action in the County Court instead.

There are very complicated issues involved here. It is advised you seek legal advice before commencing a claim in either jurisdiction.

Guidance has been given by the courts as follows:

• It is correct to assume that an employee can stand the normal pressures of the job unless an employer knows of some particular problem or vulnerability
• Allowing a willing employee to continue in their job is not a breach of that duty if the only reasonable and effective step would have been to discriminate or demote
• To trigger responsibility the indications must be plain
• Look for signs such as high sickness absence levels
• Offer support and confidential counselling

Claims for personal injury in the civil courts are VERY difficult to win. There is no legal aid available and no win no fee insurance is unlikely.