News / Press Releases

 

Action on hearing loss

LAWYERS are urging residents who worked at five noisy factories to get in touch if they believe they are losing their hearing.

Imperium Law believes former workers from five well-known firms could be entitled to thousands of pounds in compensation because employers did not provide them with any ear protection.

The Macclesfield-based firm wants to hear from people who worked at Brittains Paper Limited, in Cheddleton; Bamfords Limited in Uttoxeter; Courtaulds Textiles, Leek; TM Birkett, Billington and Newton, in Hanley; and Johnson Bros, also in Hanley.

The appeal comes as Hartshill-based Attwood Solicitors held its fifth clinic yesterday for people who fear they may have been affected by industrial deafness.

Legal advisers say they have been inundated with people from Stoke-on-Trent affected by hearing loss since they held their first hearing advice sessions almost two years ago.

And Philip Jackson, a partner at Imperium Law, said people could have a case against firms if they had experienced a loss of hearing and had worked there after 1963.

That was the year a Department of Industry publication warned businesses exposing workers to excessive noise could damage hearing.

Mr Jackson said: "Industry generally did nothing to protect workers' hearing throughout the 60s, 70s and 80s."

Imperium has already made successful claims against the five firms, he said.

Mr Jackson said: "We have already done all the research about these companies, which is why we want to hear from more workers."

But the lawyer warned people wanting compensation had to act quickly as claims were less likely to be successful if not made within three years of the complainant noticing their hearing had been affected.

Mr Jackson, who takes on cases on a no-win, no-fee basis, said people were likely to receive between £4,000 and £6,000 in compensation.

They can also claim for the cost of top-of-the-range hearing aids.

Rachel Hulme, a legal adviser for Attwood, said the firm had taken action against more than 20 companies in the city for industrial deafness.

Last year, the law firm helped more than 100 ex-potters pursue compensation claims.

She said: "I feel very passionately about this cause as people have their lives affected permanently by deafness. It affects their family and social life."

Imperium Law can be contacted on 0800 6335730 and Attwood Solicitors on 01782 416016.

 

Local law firm strikes back for miners’ rights

Macclesfield-based law firm, Imperium Law LLP, has recently settled a landmark case against British Coal which may bring access to justice for many sick and elderly miners

Philip Jackson, partner at Imperium Law LLP, acted for the successful claimant in RB v British Coal Corporation, part of the British Coal Respiratory Disease Litigation – the largest ever personal injury action in the United Kingdom. The claimant, who was employed by the National Coal Board/ British Coal, for over 20 years suffers from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) as a result of his exposure to coal dust whilst working at the Golborne Colliery in Greater Manchester.

This case is the first to be brought and allowed since the closure of the Coal Health Compensation Scheme on the 31st March 2004 and the fact that it has been upheld may enable other miners, who may have thought they were too late to bring claims, to pursue claims for compensation for COPD.

The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (which is responsible for the National Coal Board) attempted to prevent the claim proceeding on the grounds that Mr B should have lodged his claim before the scheme closed in 2004. 

The scheme sets out how liability is established and compensation paid for health problems caused by working underground in British Coal mines. It was originally brought in as an alternative to taking a claim through the courts, mainly because of the volume of claims that the government expected to be lodged by both miners and their widows, speeding up the process for claimants. Before its closure in 2004, nearly 600,000 claims had been registered.

Despite strong resistance from British Coal’s Solicitors, Mrs Justice Swift, sitting in the High Court, determined that it was in the interests of justice for the claimant’s case to be allowed to proceed not least because there was evidence that the claimant was not aware that he was suffering from COPD until after the 31st March 2004 cut-off. Following this landmark decision, British Coal decided to settle out of court for an undisclosed sum.

Philip Jackson commented: “This settlement really is a triumph! Not only has my client received the compensation which he so rightly deserves, and badly needs, but it opens the door for  other miners who have endured the conditions in these collieries, and are now suffering the consequences, so that they can pursue their compensation entitlements.

“The Courts, quite rightly, realised that the stay on the compensation scheme was purely for administrative purposes rather then being in the interests of justice and the miners. It means that those miners who have recently noticed symptoms, or who have perhaps only been diagnosed in the last three years, may now be entitled to make a claim,” he explained.

Imperium Law LLP was founded in 2005 by partners Phillip Jackson and Christopher Ward, specialising in personal injury and industrial disease litigation. The firm represents a wide variety of clients including those involved in the textile and steel industries as well as dock workers and other heavy industry employees with cases ranging from road traffic accidents to accidents at work and industrial disease claims.

–        ENDS –

To download a pdf version click here