60k MoD payout for injured gran - 08/04/2008

A forty-five year old grandmother has received a £60’000 compensation settlement from the Ministry of Defence just weeks before her claim was due in court.

Karen Coulthard, of Longtown, injured her back whilst working in a munitions factory where she would lift up to 600 metal crates each day. Coulthard submitted two letters from her GP and a note from an occupational health doctor to the MoD but continued to lift the 50lb crates. According to her injury lawyers, the strain on her back was so severe that she was forced to leave the job and is now medically retired.

“Karen complained about her situation on numerous occasions,” said Coulthard’s lawyer, Linda Redhead. “The heavy lifting clearly aggravated her back injury. There was a period of almost two years when she was complaining to her managers but she was told to just get on with it”. A senior organiser for the GMB trade union explained that it is the employer’s duty to ensure that staff do not aggravate medical conditions in the workplace.