Guilt over accident

LegacyUser

I'm gonna have to keep this as uninformative as I can without it being stupid, so please bear with me. I had an accident in work (which was a fault of the job). I had been off sick for 4 weeks with the injuries I received and it will be a fairly long time before I'm fully recovered and I need on-going treatment.

In this time, I was not once offered sick pay, medical bills covered or anything like that. In fact, I was accused of lying about the accident! So I chose to make a claim.

Now, after informing my boss and head office that I intend to make a claim, I have been called in for a meeting on Monday with the HR manager about my letter/claim.

I'm not looking for any legal advice here, I'll get that from a solicitor, but I feel really guilty now. Am I wrong to be suing after what happened and how I was treated? More stuff happened and I was treated awfully on the night of the accident, but I can't really go into much detail.

So if you don't think I'm wrong, can you give me some tips on being assertive without being rude, and on how to not feel guilty over it all?

Thanks!

mikemac

Don't talk to them again about the accident. If they phone you or want to bring you in get the solicitor to do the talking, that's what you pay them for!

If you do return to work while the claim is on going just work away as normal.

In everything, say as little as possible.

cafecolour

You should feel angry, not feel guilty. Just think of the way they treated you and let that rile you up, that might get the feelings of guilt to go away.

As above though, talk to your lawyer, be careful about talking to them yourself. They've already treated you like sh*t and they'll continue to protect themselves and walk over you if you let them.

Firetrap

If you got injured due to their negligence, they are in the wrong. They've not been one bit supportive to you and you can be assured that the meeting won't be for your benefit either. Because you've decided to make a claim, you've crossed the Rubicon and guilt has no place in this matter any more.

Like the others said, tread very carefully regarding this meeting. I know sweet feck all about employment law but I'd be thinking that there's no way I'd go into that meeting without having a solicitor with me.

cena

Same thing happened too me too. put in a claim.

If you want too ask private message me.

LegacyUser

Hey guys, OP here. Thanks for the advice. I feel a little less guilty now. The one thing I really need help with is how to say in a polite but firm way that I basically am refusing to talk about it without legal representation.

I hate confrontation and while I will deal with it if necessary, I tend to need to prepare what I'll say or I get all flustered. Can you suggest a way of wording it, to tell them that I'm basically not dropping the claim and am refusing to speak about it, in a way that doesn't come across as rude but is still firm and to the point?

cena

Tell them too be talking too the solictior. They shouldn't be talking too you the case anyways. They should be told this by there own people

Firetrap

Get on to your solicitor first thing in the morning. Get advice from them. Tell your HR manager that your solicitor will be in touch about the matter. Whatever you do, don't go into that meeting.

Esel

^ +99