Posted: February 19th, 2016
A social worker who was injured while on the job has received an unknown settlement of compensation from the HSE for the injuries he sustained.
Joseph Kavanagh, of Enfield, County Meath, was working in a Special Care Residential Unit as a social care worker dedicated to helping young people with behavioural issues. In June 2009, he was asked to accompany a particular young person-who must not be named for legal reasons-while their family visited them. During the visit, the youth became visibly agitated, and attempted to run away from his carer.
Joseph attempted to pursue the boy, but while he was running he twisted over his knee and fell to the pavement, cracking his kneecap. Joseph has since experienced difficulty in performing regular daily activities due to ongoing pain in the region. He was also left with a scar-four centimetres long-on his knee from his injury.
The social care worker sought legal advice, and made a claim for compensation against his employer, the Health Service Executive (HSE). Joseph claimed that his employer should have carried out a risk assessment of the family visit, considering the boy had displayed agitated and nervous behaviour prior to the family visit. He argued that there should have been another social worker on hand to help Joseph should the youth act out due to this behaviour.
The defendant denied liability for their employee’s injuries, and Joseph brought his claim to be heard by Judge Francis Comerford in the Circuit Civil Court. Before the HSE was able to present its defence against the social care worker injury claim for compensation, the judge was informed that a settlement had been agreed by the legal parties of both sides and that the claim had been resolved.
The details of the settlement were not released to the public, but the liability for Joseph’s injuries was shared between the defendant and the plaintiff equally. Joseph was further awarded his legal fees, and the case was struck from the Circuit Civil Court.
Categories: Pedestrian Accidents
