In this week’s case of the week we acted for a bus driver who suffered psychological trauma after a fire on board her bus.

While driving our client started to smell burning, before there were two explosions and a fire, which caused significant damage to the bus.

“We thought that the employer’s attitude was wholly unacceptable and we were pleased when the Judge agreed with us.”

Kirsty Mors, of Thompsons Solicitors

Our client’s employer denied responsibility, saying it did not know how the fire had been caused. We argued, that this was simply not good enough. As her employer, it had the responsibility and resources to investigate, learn from previous accidents and to look into how they came about with a view to hopefully prevent them from occurring in the future. The case went all the way to trial and the Judge found that the circumstances spoke for themselves and, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, the employer was at fault.

Kirsty Mors, who supported the client, said: “Our client was going about her ordinary duties when this very frightening incident occurred. Her employer owed her a duty to look after her, yet their response was to shrug their shoulders and claim ‘it’s not our fault’. It could not even be bothered to properly investigate how the accident had occurred.

“We thought that the employer’s attitude was wholly unacceptable and we were pleased when the Judge agreed with us.”