A social worker who suffered damage to her eyes when oven cleaner was sprayed in her face has won £7,000 in damages.
Rudi Meszaros, 33, was working at a residential home for young offenders when the incident occurred. One of the offenders, who had a long history of abuse and violent behaviour, sprayed the oven cleaner in Miss Meszaros' eyes. The attack left her temporarily blind and in considerable pain.
As well as causing physical damage, the attack had a considerable psychological impact on Miss Meszaros. She suffered from anxiety and was forced to leave her job. Medical evidence demonstrated that she was at risk of developing a 'magnified psychological response' if exposed to aggressive behaviour of this kind again.
Miss Meszaros said that her employer, Newport City Council, was aware that an incident of this kind could occur as on more than one occasion risk assessments had found that the residential home was not a suitable placement for her attacker as he presented a danger both to staff and to other residents.
In addition, Miss Meszaros claimed that she and her colleagues had expressed concern about the easy access to the cleaning products to the home’s management, following an earlier incident, yet no procedures were put in place at that time to ensure that these were safely stored.
Newport City Council agreed to settle the case out of court for £7,000.
