£200,000 for slipping on a grape! Record £25m payouts to axed and injured teachers

April 6th, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

By
Laura Clark

PUBLISHED:

19:35 EST, 5 April 2012

|

UPDATED:

19:56 EST, 5 April 2012

Compensation for teachers has reached record levels, with injured and sacked staff claiming payouts of £25million last year.

Classroom unions secured up to 20 per cent more for their members than the year before, landing schools and councils with rocketing legal bills.

Recent payouts include £200,000 for slipping on a grape and £21,289 for tripping on a bag of playground balls.

Payout: A teacher who slipped on a grape secured a massive £200,000 in compensation

A scald from a kettle perched on top of a microwave, in turn placed on a filing cabinet, resulted in a £7,000 payout, while a teacher who slipped on a book lying under a mat got £25,674.

The figures, disclosed by unions as they gather for their Easter conferences, also provided evidence of devastating injuries inflicted by pupils and parents.

The NUT alone revealed that it had dealt with 76 criminal attacks on staff.

But the lion’s share of cash was paid out following employment disputes, where teachers claimed they had been wrongly dismissed, discriminated against or ill-treated by bosses. Many of these cases never reached court but were settled using ‘compromise agreements’ – legal deals to accept compensation rather than pursue a tribunal claim.

Figures released by unions this week show that the NASUWT alone helped its members to win £12.6million in 2011, a 20 per cent rise on 2010. This includes £10.8million secured through compromise agreements. The Association of Teachers and Lecturers secured £5.3million, including £4.5million in compromise agreements.

Teachers were paid more than £20million in compensation for workplace accidents in 2010. the biggest claim was for £459,000

Teachers were paid more than £25million in compensation last year

BIG MONEY FOR TEACHERS’ MISHAPS

A teacher from the east of England slipped on a grape in the stairwell of his school. The fall aggravated an existing hernia problem, resulting in him needing extensive surgery. The school was aware of litter problems but had failed to take action to prevent them. The teacher had to stop working after three years due to chronic pain and was awarded £200,000 (NUT, 2010).
A book obscured by a mat caused a teacher in northern England to slip, fracturing her elbow and wrist. She had three operations and physiotherapy and still suffers problems. She was awarded £25,674 (NUT, 2011).
A kettle in a staffroom at a school in the South East was placed on a microwave, which in turn was on a filing cabinet. A teacher was in a chair directly below the kettle when a colleague accidentally knocked it, causing scalding water to pour down her back. The school admitted liability and the member was awarded £7,000 for scarring (NUT, 2011).
A teacher in the North West slipped on mud as a result of building work at the school. She damaged her back. Liability was initially denied but eventually her claim was settled for £158,000 (NASUWT, 2011).
A pupil assaulted a teacher in the East Midlands nine times in a similar way. The boy would ask to shake her hand and sometimes did so, but on other occasions twisted her arm behind her back. He would also scratch his hand down her back, causing injury and stress. She was awarded £20,000 (NASUWT, 2011).

While the National Union of Teachers has yet to release final figures, its total is expected to take the amount won by the three main teaching unions to more than £25million. Much of the cash was paid out by insurance companies.

Union officials insisted cases were brought when schools and local authorities failed to comply with legal responsibilities on health, safety and employment.

But the payouts led critics to question why substandard staff are being rewarded for failure.

Employment payouts included £33,000 to a teacher who was fired for gross misconduct amid allegations that she falsified results in optional tests. The school ‘failed to provide any evidence the member’s actions had been deliberate’.

In another case, a teacher with serious criminal convictions dating back 20 years, prior to her teaching career, was fired after the offences came to light. A tribunal ruled in her favour, awarding her £35,500.

Figures last year showed that 38
councils had made ‘compromise agreement’ payments to teachers who left
after being accused of poor performance.

Compensation in cases of criminal assault is often far lower than personal injury or employment.

Scalded: One teacher in the South East was awarded £7,000 after a kettle fell from on top of a filing cabinet, pouring boiling water down her back

A teacher who was hit in the eye when a pupil kicked a full bottle of water at her was awarded £4,500 through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.

A teacher who was knocked out by a pupil’s punch got £13,590.

The biggest personal injury payout reported by unions this year was £222,215.

It was awarded to a teacher at a school for pupils with behavioural difficulties, who was hit in the head with a bus door by a pupil. She suffered serious brain trauma.

There were accusations of double standards after unions criticised litigious parents and threatened not to take school trips for fear of being sued over pupil accidents.

In the past the NASUWT has lamented that ‘society no longer appears to accept the concept of a genuine accident’.

Last night, NASUWT general secretary Chris Keates said: ‘Behind each of these cases is a person whose life has been damaged through serious injury or unfair dismissal from their chosen career.

‘Compensation is important, but it is cold comfort when they have lost their job or their mental or physical health is irreparably damaged.’

Here’s what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts,
or debate this issue live on our message boards.

The comments below have not been moderated.

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England. And St George from Derby-the armed forces is part of the public sector

– Tammy , London, 06/4/2012 10:18

If you read what happened in this teacher you will see that he underwent extensive surgery as a result of the slip and had to give up work after three years. It would also appear that the school had failed to to adequately deal with litter problems on the premises. This evidence would have either been accepted by a court of the relevant insurance company. This is just one of a large number of increasingly misleading and silly headlines which the DM specialises in. Please stop it or I will sue you for the nervous shock I suffered on initially reading the headline!

– GC, London, 06/4/2012 10:18

If you dont want to pay out compensation, make sure no one has cause to sue you, its a bit like if you cant do the time, dont do the crime, and if the employees have a great union, like the teachers, nurses or police, dont try to take them on, you will lose, the unsafe working practices you can force people in poorly paid jobs, with no union representation, are fine, just dont try it when their is a big union behind the people you employ.

– Stuart, Glasgow, 06/4/2012 10:17

Another day, another DM pop at teachers…

– John C, Rotherham S.Yorks, 06/4/2012 09:55

I know this is all fraudulent. My friends mum is a teacher and got £5,000 by pretending she was hurt when a file fell out of a cupboard and brushed her face. They are all at it.

– Dewayne J, Peckham, 06/4/2012 09:35

Of course the timing of this ‘story’ has nothing whatever to do with the fact that teachers unions are contemplating more industrial action.

– Tim Ball, Buxton, 06/4/2012 09:21

This situation is absolutely disgusting. It is high time we put the compensation culture on the bonfire of the super numpty liberal ideas. To give someone 7k for scalding themselves because most likely they weren’t paying attention is gross. Cameron needs to get a grip and lets rid ourselves of this numpty American born idea and get back to common sense and being accountable and sensible and responsible. Pathetic
– Freddy Johnson, Pennan Scotland, 06/4/2012 07:01 ************* Did you actually read the article: “A kettle in a staffroom at a school in the South East was placed on a microwave, which in turn was on a filing cabinet. A teacher was in a chair directly below the kettle when a colleague accidentally knocked it, causing scalding water to pour down her back.”
– NC, Alba, 06/04/2012 08:10
Not the fault of the injured person directly, but every member of staff had a duty to point out the risk, before something like this happened.

– Helen, Essex, 06/4/2012 09:11

I am lost for words. Are there really people here who feel that someone should go to work and suffer a brain injury and then not be compensated for their losses? The problem with the perception of injury cases is plain to see in this trivialized headline which states that the teacher got a pay out for slipping on a grape. It makes it sound like you can slip on a grape, stand up and dust yourself off and then claim £200,000. The teacher must have suffered such serious injuries and financial loss to justify such an award (or out of court settlement) This paper is losing credibility with every article.

– Nick, Sheffield, 06/4/2012 08:57

claims for genuine accidents to be rejected withouit further discussion, schookls cannot be blamed for every accident such as trips or bangs.
The union should scale back its activities and lawyers should be kpt out as much as possible.
Incidentally when protesting teachers might care to consider their status and not dress badly nor behave like a rabble.

– alan douglas, ludlow england, 06/4/2012 08:39

These digustinly high payouts can only happen in the public sector-compare these to our armed forces personel who have lost limbs anf have to fight for their pittance!!!!

– England-and-St.George, Derby, 06/4/2012 08:13

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