Stephen John Dalling, of Middleton Street, St Thomas, Swansea, was working for R J Heale & Coof Bridgend when he sustained serious injuries in a fall in March 2005.
The 31-year-old fell about 15ft onto a concrete floor while dismantling a disused factory in Fforestfach.
He suffered a fractured skull and damage to his back in the fall, and despite making a “remarkably good recovery”, he lost his sense of smell and suffered some loss of hearing.
Appeal Court judge Lady Justice Smith said Mr Dalling was unlikely to ever work again.
The court heard that after the fall, excessive drinking became a problem for Mr Dalling, and he “would not know when to stop”. Following a second accident in October 2008, when Mr Dalling fell over in a pub and hit his head again, his condition worsened.
In March 2010, his former employer, of Court Road, Bridgend, was ordered to pay damages of £580,000, along with thousands of pounds in legal costs.
But the company launched an appeal, arguing that it was wrong to have to pay damages not just for the first fall, but the second one in the pub.
Lady Justice Smith threw the appeal out however, saying that the second incident was “casually connected” to the initial fall at work.
As well as upholding the compensation payout, R J Heale & Coof Bridgend was also ordered to pay £300,000 in legal costs.
Source: Claims Management Magazine
