Claimant recovers damages for digital hearing aids in a deafness claim

We acted on behalf of a client who had been employed in the steel industry for 35 years between 1963 and 1999. For a substantial part of his employment he was not provided with hearing protection by his employers.

In about 2001, our client began to notice difficulty in hearing conversations in crowded environments and that his ability to hear people on the telephone was impaired. Additionally, he was suffering from a ringing in his ears (tinnitus) which was also causing intermittent insomnia.

The client was referred to our industrial disease team and, subsequently, was medically examined for the purposes of a claim. The medical expert confirmed a noise induced hearing loss and tinnitus was present, but also recommended that this client would benefit from digital hearing aids. 

The client, on our advice, applied for the hearing aids through his local health authority but at the date of trial in Manchester County Court he had been on a waiting list for those hearing aids for approximately 18 months.

In finding for our client, the judge awarded damages for his loss of hearing and condition of tinnitus but also awarded him an additional sum to purchase digital hearing aids. The judge took the view that this client should not have had to wait for the hearing aids on the NHS and that he should be compensated on the basis that he could then buy the digital hearing aids as soon as possible.

Case Report by Lesley Mynett, Associate Solicitor
Industrial Disease Team