Four figure settlement helps Paisley factory worker following serious shoulder injury

It was an ordinary night shift at the paper mill in Paisley where Kevin Margery worked. 

He was helping a colleague move a paper coil weighing 65kg onto a pallet when it fell from the loading prong dragging his arm down to the ground. 

While it was initially very sore, Kevin didn’t think this workplace accident would leave him needing legal help for a long-term injury.

“I thought I’d pulled a muscle”

Kevin reported the incident to the workplace health and safety officer and despite being in unbearable pain he continued to work, thinking it was just a pulled muscle. 

Kevin said: “It wasn’t until two days later when I was getting dressed I noticed my left shoulder looked completely deformed. 

“I went to A&E for an X-ray and the doctor confirmed I had done more than pull a muscle…I had torn my AC, the ligament between my shoulder and collar bone, to the point it was close to snapping.”

The doctor said Kevin needed time to heal and he was signed off work for the next 14 weeks. 

The 35-year-old said: “It was a really stressful time for me and my family.

“I’ve got three kids and a mortgage to pay, and money doesn’t come from nowhere.

“Not only were we eating away at our savings, but I couldn’t help around the house or do the school run so everything fell to my wife.

“I had worked at the company for eight years and I was really hurt and disappointed by the way they were treating me after the accident. 

“They were acting like it wasn’t a big deal and that’s when I decided to go to Digby Brown.”

“Wee guy can take on the big guy”

Having heard Digby Brown’s adverts on the radio Kevin knew we were best placed to help him.

Our no win no fee funding guarantee meant he wouldn’t need to find the funds to pay for legal advice. 

The team in Glasgow started gathering evidence including medical records detailing the extent of Kevin’s injury and CCTV footage of the accident.

The Digby Brown legal team was able to prove Kevin and his colleague hadn’t been given the proper training to use the machine.

The company’s insurers made a formal offer which was rejected before a second offer of £6,000 was made and accepted. 

Kevin said: “The wee guy can take on the big guy and getting a bit of compensation helped because I can put something away for a rainy day.

“But to me this was about the principle, not the money. 

“I was loyal to the company and they treated me like I was just a number, like I didn’t matter. 

“Now, I’m left with an arm that shakes uncontrollably when I try to flex it and I’m in constant pain. 

“I’m always going to be worried about further damaging my shoulder but Digby Brown helped me get justice.”