Firm stays away from court for RSI deal

LEADING trade union firm Russell Jones &Walker says it has secured the first ever compensation agreement for repetitive strain injury (RSI) sufferers without resorting to court action.

The agreement negotiated with the Inland Revenue encourages a system of dispute resolutions without the need for expensive court action.

Sixteen of the most commonly identified conditions suffered by keyboard and VDU workers and associated with the general term RSI are covered by the agreement.

Russell Jones partner Richard Langton said: "The new scheme takes away the courtroom lottery that determines whether or not a claimant gets compensation and ensures money is paid to victims not to lawyers."

It has been signed after a series of high profile actions by sufferers was lost at enormous expense to trade unions and the Legal Aid Board.

Fraser Whitehead, partner at Russell Jones & Walker who negotiated the deal with the revenue's representatives, said: "It is increasingly clear from other cases that have been decided at trial that the real issue here is one of medical causation.

"Many commentators agree that the court is not the right forum for the resolution of what are essentially issues of medical dispute."

The agreement coincides with the announcement that Russell Jones has won £82,000 compensation for a civil servant who suffered from an upper limb disorder after working on a keyboard for the Inland Revenue.