Employee suing my previous employer, do I need to protect myself?

B

baldyman27

Registered User
Messages
639
I used to work as a foreman for a construction company up to Jan. of last year. About a year previous to that, we were doing a job on a roadway late in the evening, it was dark but we had lights. Basically, the job was pre-planned, risk-assessment, traffic controls, etc., etc. were all in place. The job involved connecting a pipe into a manhole. One of my lads at the time was working inside the manhole for the evening. When the job was complete, we started the tidy-up and this guy fell into the same manhole he had been working on.

There is no question in my head that he did so on purpose, it was accidental. He hurt both his legs, not severely, but enough to prevent him working for a while.Also, as he was close to retirement, it was kind of inevitable that he wouldn't return to work after it. That's besides the point.

I offered to call an ambulance, he refused.I offered to drive him home, he refused. He insisted on driving himself home so all I could do was to follow him home, help him in the door and he said he was ok after that. I rang the following morning and in the days after to check up on him. Basically, I feel that I did what I could to help him.

First thing the following morning, I rang our safety auditors at the time and a guy came to site. I walked and talked through the whole incident with him and he wrote up a report based on that. I told it exactly as it happened.

About two months ago, he rang me asking would I be willing to talk to his solicitor re the incident. I told him that I would but that a report had been written up which would be more accurate than my memory. His solicitor rang me this morning wanting to meet with me. I fobbed him off for a few days while I considered things.

My questions are these;

Should I engage a solicitor myself I do not want to do this.

Should I even talk to his solicitor as I was an employee of the company he is suing and was the foreman on the site?

IMO, the man himself was at least 90% responsible for the accident but that is just my opinion.

Any ideas of where I stand?
 
I don't have any answers but I for one would try my best not to get involved. You have done your part by reporting it through the proper channels.

I'd be telling the solicitor to contact ex company safety auditors for a copy of your statement.
 
Davy, that's exactly what I told them, I also rang my former boss to let him know that I had been contacted. I have no gra for him but I felt I should tell him. I definitely don't want to get involved but I'm wondering if I'm entitled to tell his solicitor that I won't speak with them.
 
You are entitled to tell his solicitor that you have no wish to get involved. It's not like they can summon you to civil court as a witness? No doubt our legal eagles can answer that one.
 
I would contact the construction industry federation(CIF) for advise on this. I could see you being called as a withness if it went to court.
 
It sounds to me like they're trying to 'get me' first, if you know what I mean. They're being very pushy that I meet with them. Unfortunately, it looks to me like the guy in question could end up out of pocket as I don't think he has much of a case.
 
baldyman27 said:
Davy, that's exactly what I told them, I also rang my former boss to let him know that I had been contacted. I have no gra for him but I felt I should tell him. I definitely don't want to get involved but I'm wondering if I'm entitled to tell his solicitor that I won't speak with them.
Click to expand...

Of course you can. More than likely the solicitor is trying to get information out of you that he can use against you ex-employer. With the passage of time, it is possible that you may inadvertantly trip up over some detail if he tries to talk to you about the events on the night.

I'd advise not getting involved. Tell the solicitor that you are no longer employed by the company and so do not want to be contacted again - that everything is in the official report that was filed with the company at the time of the incident.
 
Considering he is taking a case against your former employer and you have notified them, of what this persons intention is. I would be of the opinion that your former employer (or their insurer) when the time comes would provide a solicitor. For now I wouldnt entertain this person any further. Might sound harsh but I really wouldnt want to get involved if you see what I mean. But this is only my opinion
 
There's no liability on you firstly as the claim is against your ex employer. Even if you were in some way at fault (you're not), the employer would be vicariously liable anyway.

It sounds like a matter of getting a witness to act on his behalf, which you are under no obligation (as far as I know) to do. In a similar way you wouldn't have to act as a witness for the employer.

It's up to yourself if you want to be involved. I don't suppose there's any harm in confirming the details you gave in the investigation.
 
What I told them initially was that a report was filed and that it was accurate and complete, that I wouldn't have anything to add to it. When they contact me again I'll repeat that and ask them not to contact me again as I have nothing further to add and do not wish to be involved.
 
They can summons you as a witness to court if they want to. Just to point this out as above information is wrong.
 
True that they can summon you as a witness - however they are less inclined to do so if you don't talk to them beforehand so keep away insofar as you can.
 
Being summonsed as a witness doesn't bother me. If it does go to court then I would be the obvious witness in this case and have no problem recounting exactly what happened. I just don't want to get involved beforehand, especially as they could try to trip me up as csirl said above. Will tell them politely but firmly not to contact me again, although I suspect the employee in question will be on the phone to me straightaway once I do.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top