Compensation in the classroom hits £18m
MORE than £18million in compensation was awarded to teachers last year for injuries at work and in employment disputes.
Compensation claims range from accidents to violent attacks by pupils. In one case a teacher was awarded £89,000 after being blinded by a pupil. One of the largest – won by the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers– was £220,000 for a teacher in Kent in an out-of-court settlement. She suffered a permanent injury when a box of paper fell on her head while taking an item from a stationery cupboard.
A member of the National Union of Teachers in the Midlands was given £106,000 from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority after suffering injuries to her neck and shoulder when restraining an autistic child.
Other accident claims include a payout of £160,000 to a teacher in Warwickshire who was forced to take early retirement when he slipped on icy steps.
And two widows were granted a combined award of nearly £500,000 after their husbands died of mesothelioma from working in asbestos-ridden schools.
The Association of Teachers and Lecturers also won more than £4million for those agreeing to leave their jobs and nearly £4.5million for heads who were under pressure to deliver results and forced from their posts.
Overall the NASUWT obtained £9million for its members.
