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Milestone decision of the Supreme Court for work related accidents (decision No 703/2013)
This decision clarifies that the conditions for compensation for damages suffered by the victim are different than those for mental anguish. In the later it is enough to prove that it was caused due to employer's misdemeanor and not due to willful misconduct!
A worker died while performing the work of window cleaner in the hospital "Metaxa" in Piraeus. Due to non-compliance with the statutory safety measures, the worker fell from a great height into the void resulting in his death.
The victim was under the influence of alcohol, at a rate of 2.35 g/l, which substantially reduced the ability of action and reaction and that was the reason why the court ruled his co-responsibility at a rate of 15%.
Rhodes First Instance Court with its the decision of 135/2010 awarded € 25,000 total compensation, of which 13,000 € is immediately enforceable, to the employee who suffered an accident in the old factory of Kair sparkling wine.
Although the number of accidents is decreasing in recent years in Greece, in 2013 and 2014 they increased! While in 2010 we had the highest number of accidents with 5.721cases, in 2012 we had 4.858, in 2013 they increased to 5.126 and in 2014 in 5.497. The number of fatal accidents shows better trends: from 94 cases in 2010, fell to 63 in 2014. These are data from SEPE (Labour Inspectorate), without the data of 2014 to be final and this government body has not yet published its annual formal report. It is worth noting that the figures do not cover civil servants, sailors and workers in mines and quarries.
The Greek Council of State confirmed the decision of Court of Appeals awarding compensation amounting to EUR 60.150 and monthly payment of EUR 500 up to 266,000 euros to a nurse, who was seriously injured at work from a tree branch that fell in the Elpis hospital's courtyard.
Non-material damage or Moral damage or Non material Harm and Pain and suffering or Mental anguish or Mental Distress or Pretium Doloris are concepts that are often confused.
Although they have commonalities, their differences in the way in Greek law are handled are distinctive. Moral Damage (which is a broader concept) includes the Mental Distress (as narrower concept).
In an accident, apart from physical damage which is relatively easy to be defined, there are damages, such as non-material damages and mental anguish that a court must assess, Something that is not easy because it harms legitimate goods, such as the personality, the physical health and integrity, the reputation, the honor etc. of a person.
Two Greek Supreme Court decisions create legal precedents and recognize shared responsibility to an employee and provided the option to compensate the employer for damages caused due to an accident at work.
Two Greek Supreme Court decisions create legal precedents and recognize shared responsibility to an employee and provided the option to compensate the employer for damages caused due to an accident at work.
The court awarded an indemnity of €150,000 euros to each of his parents and €75,000 euros to each of his three siblings. The unfortunate young man worked as a plumber while he was known to the local society of Patras due to his involvement with music and the creation of video clips.
