Injured ankle after overstepping - question of causality - won 800,000 in compensation

In one of my cases, a young girl had suffered an accident at work by twisting her ankle on an icy staircase and sustained an ankle injury. Shortly after the accident, she fell off a horse and twisted her ankle again. She had also previously had problems with unstable ankles.

As a result of the injuries, she underwent ankle surgery and subsequently developed neuropathic pain. The insurance company claimed that there was no causal link between the ankle injury and the work accident, and the client was therefore forced to take out a writ of summons in the case. In the district court, the client won his full claim. The insurance company appealed the case to the Court of Appeal.

The vulnerability principle

A key issue in court was the principle of vulnerability, which states that it should be disregarded that the employee is particularly susceptible to the injury. The injured party should be taken «as she is». In this case, my client was particularly susceptible to ankle injuries and the Court of Appeal correctly recognised this.

Interacting causes

Another key issue was the doctrine of concurrent causes. If the injury was the result of concurrent causes, it is required that the accident is such a significant element that it is natural to attach liability to it. In this case, the Court of Appeal compared the accident at work and the horse riding accident, and concluded that the accident at work appeared to be such a significant element that it was natural to attach liability to it.

Financial loss: compensation of 800,000

Since the Court of Appeal concluded that the causal link was fulfilled, my client could claim compensation for her financial loss. The Court of Appeal assessed her ability to work with neuropathic pain in her ankle to constitute a permanent reduced earning capacity of 10 %. She received payment for loss of income, future loss of income, additional expenses incurred, future additional expenses, additional compensation and expenses for legal assistance totalling NOK 800,000. 800 000,-.

If you want to read the full judgement, you can find it here: Eidsivating lagmannsrett-2015-204186