This was a claim brought by a refuse collector claiming he had suffered a prolapsed disc because of a temporary change to the Refuse Department’s recycling method of work. For a short period, wheelie bins were replaced with paper sacks for the collection of paper and cardboard to be recycling.
Unfortunately, whilst training for the change in work method had taken place this was not adequately recorded and on paper at least the Council could not prove they had trained the claimant in manual handling. In addition, the claimant had supportive medical evidence from a consultant orthopaedic surgeon who causatively linked the claimant’s manual handling of sacks of paper to his injury.
However, it became apparent that when the claimant said he was off work with a bad back – he was in fact off with IBS (a stomach complaint) and closer examination of the claimant’s Occupational Health file, personnel file and GP records showed the claimant had left the Council under a cloud after threatening violence and had other medical issues including an addiction to drugs.
We carried out relevant intel searches which showed the claimant dirt bike riding at the time he said he could not work due to his bad back. As result, a few weeks before trial the claim was discontinued.
Rather than one “silver bullet” this claim had several circumstantial elements of evidence which when added together overwhelming suggested the claim was dishonest. It is an importance case which demonstrates that we are prepared to carry out deep dives into the evidence even when faced with difficulties in defending a claim, a robust investigation of the claimant’s records ultimately led to a good result.