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?