£12,000 awarded for a repetitive strain injury | Case Study

Following a hearing at the Winchester County Court, two beauty therapists aged 28 and 31 respectively received substantial compensation for having suffered a repetitive strain injury at work.

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Winchester injury solicitors

Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) claims

Details of the claim

The two claimants, who at the time when the problem first arose were aged 23 and 25, were working for Virgin Atlantic Airways as beauty therapists. As part of their work the claimants provided some clients with a pressure point massage.

The massage technique involved pressing down extremely hard with the heel of the hand and then manipulating with fingers and thumbs.

The sessions would last around a quarter of an hour and within a few months of providing the massages, both claimants began to suffer pain in their shoulders, elbows, wrists and forearms.

One claimant's symptoms were slightly the more serious but for both women there was never going to be any chance of them making a recovery. The claimants would experience the condition indefinitely and would not be able to carry out any type of work that involved strenuous or repetitive manual movements.

Court ruling and award

The first claimant received £12,000 for her pain and suffering whilst the second claimant received the sum of £9,000.

In addition to the compensation for this pain and suffering, each received a further sum representing the fact that they could not continue doing a job which they enjoyed. Substantial compensation was also paid to both, for lost earnings in the case of the first claimant, and to the second in recognition of the fact that she would find it more difficult to find employment in her chosen field as a result of her ongoing condition.