Thank you both for your replies. I've been waiting on a letter from my Doctor with regard to my back to see what it says. That is now ready (but I've yet to read it) and I'm going to take it along with everything else and seek professional advice. On a side note I missed something out of my first post which is relevant. I suppose in my ignorance I did realise the significance of it. When I had my Stage 2&3 warning meeting the manager who was running the meeting reviewed my bad back. He agreed that there was a problem, was surprised nothing had been done about it and agreed to move me to another department. That transfer never happened despite repeatedly asking about it. The job was more or less exactly the same as mine but without the heavy lifting and the department was being run by the manager who held the warning meeting. So, there are no excuses as to why I couldn't be moved. As a layman I'm guessing that this is significant and would have a major impact on my back injury claim. Hence them trying to get me to sign away any rights to a future claim. It also explains the refusal to give me the minutes from that meeting.

I went ahead with the claim and it was accepted. My previous employer has agreed to make a 'commercial settlement'. I'm a bit lost on the wording of the document and I wondered if someone could put it into layman's terms for me? In the original draft of the agreement they wanted me to sign was the following paragraph, 3 - The terms of this Agreement are in full and final settlement of the Claims and all or any other claims or complaints that the Claimant has or may have now and/or in the future against the Respondent and any Group Company (or any of its or their officers, directors, shareholders, employees or agents) whether arising directly or indirectly out of or in connection with the Claimant's employment with the Respondent, his resignation, the termination of his employment or otherwise and whether arising under common law, tort, statute or otherwise and whether arising in the United Kingdom or in any other country in the world or any claim under any directive or other legislation which is applicable or enforceable in the United Kingdom by virtue of the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union and any other claim in respect of which a conciliation officer is authorised to act. I wasn't happy with this because it would stop me from making a claim for my back injury. In my mind they are two separate claims and should be dealt with as so. Acas are acting as a mediator and suggested a COT3. The company's solicitor has come back with an addition to the above clause which reads, “This does not include any claim in respect of latent personal injury in respect of which the Claimant is unaware, and could not reasonably be aware, at the date of this Agreement. The Claimant warrants that he is not aware of any facts or circumstances which do or may give rise to a claim for accrued pension rights and/or personal injury as at the date of this Agreement.” I'm not sure if I'm reading this correctly. To my mind the most important bit is 'This does not include' and what they are actually saying is I can make a latent personal injury claim but I can't make a claim for something I already know about i.e. my back. I have asked a family member and they read it the other way. So, I'm a bit confused and wondered if somebody can help?

If there was any chance of making a case I was always going to give it a go. I'm angry at being lied too and the company trying to deny that I had any sort of injury. I used to be very active and I did a lot of ultra distance running and mountain biking. It's not possible to do that to anywhere near the level I was, so it's had a massive impact on my life. To then be treated as I have been boils my blood to be honest. Due to the lack of time is it possible to fill in the ET1 form myself and then have a solicitor present the case? Or would I have a far better chance by approaching a solicitor from the start?

I must admit that the written word isn't one of my strengths. I struggle trying to explain what I mean in writing. What would help my case?

Emmzzi - a) Roughly 4-5 months into my employment I was shown a general health and safety dvd which included a short bit about lifting. The dvd was shown on a computer in a busy office so not ideal conditions or training. b) The safe lifting part of the dvd was just general spread your legs a little, keep your back straight, look ahead type training. This is something I have always tried to do anyway. c) I'm not aware of any risk assessment. I've never seen one or heard of one. Knowing the company I would be surprised if one existed. d) I eventually got a good amount of time off over a short period. During my time in work between the holiday dates the other shift did all the mixes (the heaviest part of the job). That was the first time in 18 months that I had gone more than 2 days without back pain. Up until that point I didn't realise that the job was still damaging my back. I just thought I had damaged it beyond repair and I would have to put up with back pain for life. I explained the part about my back pain stopping when I had time off to the company in writing a couple of months before I resigned. I was telling the company all this and they were doing nothing. Once I realised the job was still damaging my back and they wouldn't help in anyway as far as I was concerned I didn't really have a choice. steampowered - I handed my notice in at the beginning of November with a leaving date of 14th November. So that gives me around 4 weeks? I didn't refuse to go to the OHP as such. I didn't acknowledge it in anyway in our correspondence until after I had handed my resignation in. Thank you both for your replies. When your trying to deal with stuff like this it can feel as if your banging your head against a brick wall! A helping hand is much appreciated.

Hi everyone. I'm new to the forum and I wondered if somebody could advise me on whether I have a case for Constructive Dismissal and Personal Injury? I'll try to keep it as brief as possible but as is generally the case with these matters it is a bit long winded. I had been working for the company for about 6 months when I slipped a disc in my back. The job was quite physical, a lot of lifting and twisting and there is no doubt that the job was the cause. The slipped disc put pressure on a nerve and caused damage to that nerve. I lost all strength in my left leg and over the course of two years it has gradually got stronger. The best I can hope for is 80% of original strength in my leg. I was off work for around 3 weeks. When I came back I told work that the job was the cause of my slipped disc and they offered somebody to help with the heavy lifting which I accepted for a short period of time. I couldn't afford to be off from work so I just had to struggled with it. They run a two shift system and over the next 12-14 months the second shift didn't run for large periods of time. This was due to no staff or the staff not being skilled enough. The company kept on refusing my holiday saying that they were too busy (nearly all verbal requests) and they kept on running out of materials. So they steadily increased my workload and the pressure of that workload. Before I started in the production area I was working in there were 3 full time staff and one floating member doing the same workload as I was. Before my bad back I didn't have one day off sick but from the February 2012 when my back went to May 2014 I had 10 periods of sickness. 4 general illnesses, 3 for my back, 2 for another work related issue and 2 for which the company has lost the records. At the end of January 2013 after 9 periods of sickness I was given a stage 1 warning and put on absence monitoring. I appealed the warning. Basically I said the majority of my sickness is work related, you won't let me have any holiday (I had more holiday left than anybody in the company), I'm having to work extra hours to keep up, is it any wonder I'm sick. The warning was upheld. Over the next couple of months there was a large back payment of wages. I should have been getting a shift allowance but wasn't. You could tell they really weren't happy about it but I made sure before I approached them that my case was water tight. That's when things started to get really difficult. It was clear they wanted to get rid of me but it's nothing I can prove or have any evidence to back up. The end of April I fell sick again. I phoned in and left an answer phone message to say I wouldn't be in work. The company claimed they didn't receive the message. I was given a stage 2 warning for not ringing in and a stage 3 warning for continued sickness while on absence monitoring. I was told by my line manager who in turn was told by the person who conducted the disciplinary that I hadn't been treated fairly and if they were me they would appeal the warnings. Again this nothing I can prove, it was a quiet word. I appealed the warnings on the grounds that the message could have been lost and it's the first time I hadn't rang in. I also stated that the second shift wasn't running and also gave the same reasons as for the stage 1 warning. When we had the appeal meeting the company had changed the structure of the warning. They said I hadn't been given a stage 2 warning and that the incident was so serious that it had gone straight to a stage 3 warning. My staff representative brought this up in the meeting and asked to check the minutes from the disciplinary meeting and she was completely ignored. The person conducting the appeal just bullied his way through it. If I said black he said white and I didn't have any valid reasons. He upheld the warning. The day after the meeting the second shift started running and ran everyday. I was also never refused a holiday after the meeting. Up until that point I had been in daily back pain. I just thought my back has been damaged and it's something I have to live with. But when I finally got some decent time off my back pain went away. There were a lot of letters between me and the company because after the meetings they were always trying to say I had said things I hadn't. I was also trying to get copies of the minutes of the meetings which would prove the difference in the warnings (which they refuse time and time again). In those letters I explained I had been in daily pain and having to exercise to get through the working day and that when I had some time off the pain went away. The company tried to deny they knew I had a bad back. They also kept trying to say I had said this, I didn't say that etc. I was damaging my back by being there, they won't even acknowledge I have a bad back, I'm being flat out lied too and in the end it all got too much and my doctor signed me off sick for stress. While I was off sick the company kept on trying to get me to come to an interview and they did offer to send me to an Occupational Health Professional. But by this time it was to late for me. I had no trust in the company because what ever I said they disagreed with and I didn't trust them not to try too sack me at the meeting. I handed in my notice in basically stating that I couldn't trust them to be truthful and they tried to deny I even had a bad back let alone offered to help. I've got the stage 2 and 3 warnings and the letter after which gives a different stage 3 only warning. I also have another letter from the same person who upheld the appeal making the mistake of saying I was given a stage 2 and 3 warning. I also have all the letters from the company which I think shows a refusal to help in anyway and be as difficult as possible i.e. I'm having to ask for the same documents over and over again. Sorry, I know that's long. A lot went on and it's difficult to try and cut it down and not miss something which might be relevant. If anybody could give me some advice on whether they think I have a good shot at Constructive Dismissal or a claim for my back I would be grateful.