06 March 2008

The Law Lords have held that an employer is liable for compensation after an ex-employee committed suicide six years after suffering an industrial accident.

They upheld a Court of Appeal verdict that IBC Vehicles should pay compensation to the widow of Thomas Corr, who suffered worsening depression and headaches after an accident at the plant in 1996 and eventually jumped to his death from a multi-storey car park in 2002.

IBC's defence counsel had argued the Luton-based vehicle maker, which makes vans for Renault, Nissan and Vauxhall, had a duty of care to Corr at the time of the accident (for which it admitted liability) but not at the time of his suicide.

The Court of Appeal disagreed and on 27 February the Lords confirmed that Eileen Corr was eligible for damages.

Lord Bingham rejected the defence argument that the suicide was a voluntary act, observing that Corr had acted in a way that he would not have but for the original injury.

Categories:
Enforcement (prosecutions), Mental health, Prosecutions, Enforcement (prosecutions)



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