Can I claim tennis elbow injury compensation against my boss? I’m sure my injury was caused by overexertion at work.
Eoin P. Campbell, LL.B., Solicitor
Editor in Chief
You may be eligible to claim tennis elbow injury compensation against your boss but only if it can be proven that your injury was caused due to his or her negligence. Employers have a legal duty of care to provide their employees with a safe work environment and to train them in safe manual labour techniques. If it can be found that your injury was sustained due to a breach in your employer’s duty of care, you may be able to claim compensation against him or her.
You will be required to carry out some standard procedures before starting to pursue a tennis elbow injury compensation claim. Your health, of course, should have been your first priority. Since tennis elbow is an affliction that has varying symptoms which do not all always manifest in each individual case, your doctor will have to carry out a series of tests to properly diagnose your condition although even if you are found to indeed, have a tennis elbow injury, it will not be easy to fully establish whether or not your injury was sustained at work.
In this case, you will need support from witnesses to confirm that that tasks you perform at work that you link to your overexertion and subsequent injury were due to improper training or another form of your employer’s negligence. It may also be possible to get further support by looking at CCTV footage. Additionally, you should have had your injury recorded in the business’s Accident Report Book.
It would be in your best interest to consult with a solicitor at the first practical moment following your diagnosis of tennis elbow if you wish to make a tennis elbow injury compensation claim against your boss. As it is often difficult to pinpoint who is responsible for injuries such as tennis elbow and it is possible that your employer may not accept blame and could even accuse you of contributing to the cause or severity of your injury, an experienced solicitor would be able to advise you on whether your claim is viable and, if it is found to be so, could recommend the best route to take.