A teacher has been awarded a £230,000 taxpayer funded compensation payout after slipping on a ketchup sachet.
The settlement is just part of more than £1 million of compensation payments made to injured teachers by Essex County Council over the past three years.
The unnamed male teacher had been walking towards the staff room in the secondary school where he worked when he slipped on an “unspecified gooey substance” causing severe injury.
It has now emerged the substance was tomato ketchup.
The bizarre claim was revealed in a Freedom of Information request – although the school in which the incident took place has yet to be revealed.
The accident occurred on March 18, 2008, but a claim was not submitted until March 10, 2011 – just eight days before the legal time limit for personal injury claims was due to run out on the case.
Experts advised the Council the claim could have cost up to £500,000 if taken to trial due to mounting legal fees.
The final settlement included £90,000 for damages, £120,000 for legal fees and another £20,000 for additional costs.
Other claims revealed in the Freedom of Information request included a £110,000 settlement to a member of staff who suffered a spinal injury after slipping on a wet floor on two separate occasions on the same day.
Another worker received almost £40,000 after suffering a wrist injury when a faulty metal door swung open as they were taking plates to a cupboard.
Jerry Glazier, NUT's national executive and representative for Essex, said: "We need to see these claims in context.
"As a union we will support members who pursue claims for personal injury when we feel they have been poorly treated by management in schools.
"There is not a compensation culture within our schools.
"Schools are generally very safe environments but employers have a duty of care to protect both teachers and pupils."
An Essex County Council spokesperson stressed that all payouts were total figures including claimant damages, legal fees and other costs related to the case, such as third-party medical fees.
They added: "The Council takes its health, safety and well-being responsibilities seriously.
"All compensation claims received by Essex County Council are investigated fully and damages paid if the Council is liable."
This article is courtesy from the Telegraph.
