Redlich's Work Injury Lawyers recently assisted a 60 year old teacher obtain an out of court settlement of $140,000 for pain and suffering arising from his work as a teacher in a Melbourne primary school.

It was accepted by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Devlopment (DEECD) that the teacher had suffered a severe psychiatric condition.

The teacher alleged in a sworn affidavit that his injury was caused by harassment, including verbal abuse and repeated, unfounded criticism towards him by his school's Principal. The harassment occurred over a period of nearly 15 months. Despite making complaints of this to the DEECD's regional office, no action was taken to stop the behaviour, nor did the Region seek to discuss the complaints with the teacher.

The worker's lawyer Andrea Tsalamandris said The settlement is for a significant sum. It is a recognition of the merits of the claim made by our client against DEECD. It was pleasing that such an agreement was able to be reached without requiring the teacher to issue court proceedings - which would have been lengthy and very stressful for our client.