ILEA prefabricated classroom teacher who was exposed to asbestos wins the case

By James

Category: Industry

Exposed to asbestos while working in the teaching sector for many years

With the exception of the times she was away from work taking care of her family, Elizabeth Bradford was trained as a teacher and employed as a qualified teacher from 1967 until she retired in 2001. While working for the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA), she worked in a number of schools in South London's Lambeth and Wandsworth districts. Mrs. Bradford was exposed to asbestos somewhere between 1979 and 1985, and it wasn't until December 2005 that she learned she had mesothelioma.

Initially, Mrs. Bradford's request for a lump sum payment was declined by the DWP. The department's rationale was that no payment would be issued due to her exposure to the disease during her tenure with the London Borough of Lambeth, which was still liable for potential legal action, and her employment with the Borough concluded relatively recently. Seeking resolution, Mrs. Bradford engaged Andrew Morgan to challenge this decision and initiate an appeal.

In response, Andrew Morgan contended that the exposure incident transpired during Mrs. Bradford's service with ILEA at a Wandsworth school. Moreover, he asserted that when she transferred to a school in Lambeth, her affiliation remained with ILEA. Notably, by the time her employment commenced with Lambeth, the exposure to asbestos had already ceased. Consequently, under the provisions of the 1979 Act, the sole "relevant employer" was ILEA, which was dissolved by the government in 1986. Andrew Morgan's argument centered on the absence of a "relevant employer," thereby positioning Mrs. Bradford for eligibility of a payment. Consequently, the appeal found success in light of these compelling factors.

Concurrently, Andrew diligently pursued the compensation claim against the employer. Initially, an application was submitted to the London Borough of Wandsworth, the entity currently responsible for the school where Mrs. Bradford's asbestos exposure occurred. However, the borough indicated that the responsibility could potentially be attributed to either the London Pension Fund Authority, which succeeded ILEA, or Lambeth Borough Council, Mrs. Bradford's employer at the time of ILEA's dissolution. Subsequently, legal representatives from Lambeth Borough Council assumed the management of the case and initiated their investigation. During this phase, they disclosed several pivotal "knowledge" documents, awaiting the outcome of comparable test cases involving teacher claims elsewhere to inform their strategy.

Ultimately, through Andrew's adept efforts, an offer of £90,000 in compensation materialised. Following skillful negotiations, the offer was enhanced to £100,000, a sum that Mrs. Bradford found agreeable and opted to accept.

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