Psychiatric Injury

[realjustice]

Hi all, I have an ongoing ET claim which is being delayed due to the current situation. However, I have one quick question, my case involves issues of bullying, harassment, and sexual and racial discrimination which went on over months and resulted in me paying to see a psychotherapist for counselling sessions to help me cope with the situation at work.

The psychotherapist concluded that I was suffering with depression, stress and anxiety, stemming from the situation I suffered at work and recommended treatment in addition to the therapy he was giving me which I followed. Unfortunately, it all got a bit too much at some point and I made an attempt to take my own life and I did not disclose this to anyone, except the therapist and for specific reasons, I told him not to inform my GP as he had suggested. The incident happened whilst I was on holiday abroad. For the ET claim the therapist wrote a detailed report in support of my claim, regarding the effects on my mental health from the few months of therapy he gave me, costing in excess of £1.5k.

The problem I have is that my solicitors have said that the therapist report counts for nothing and that I cannot claim for the cost of my therapy sessions nor for psychiatric injury unless I obtain, I quote from them "a medico-legal report from a qualified psychiatrist who can provide in depth insight into your condition and explain how it is linked to the Respondent’s behaviour. The cost of this would be approximately £1,500.00-£2,000.00 + VAT".

Can someone please tell me if the solicitors are correct? I must say that I chose the therapist specifically as he is an employee health and wellbeing expert, and he was previously the director of Employee Assistance at a multi-national company, he is a qualified doctor (although not medical), so I am not sure what more a psychiatrist can do now, especially as the issues are now in retrospective.

[ULA]

Is this thread related to the other 2 threads you have started? If so it is much easier for those of us trying to support you to have everything on one thread that way we can given advice based on all the relevant information.

In making a claim for personal injury as part of a discrimination case the this should be supported by a medical report from a specialist physician setting out the extent of the injury, its impact on the individual and the likely prognosis. There is the case of Hampshire County Council v Wyatt, where the Employment Appeal Tribunal EAT clarified that it is not always necessary for an award to be made. However, the EAT did warn that it will usually be advisable to obtain specialist medical evidence where personal injury is alleged. One of the important things about this case was that the tribunal had access to a number of occupational health reports to assist in the decision. If no medical evidence at all is available, there is the potential risk of receiving a lower award for personal injury or even missing out altogether.

Have you asked your solicitor in detail why your therapists report is not helpful in providing medical evidence. It may be that since they were the person who treated you the solicitor might be concerned about independence, hence the need to further report. You do really need to discuss this with your solicitor.*
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