Petition for Material and Moral Compensation Due to Work Accident

TO THE DUTY LABOR COURT
OF ANKARA

PLAINTIFF: [Name and Surname] – (Turkish Republic Identity Number: …) – Address

ATTORNEY: Lawyer [Name and Surname] – Address, Mobile Phone Number

DEFENDANT: [Name and Surname] – Address

SUBJECT: Request for the joint and several collection from the defendants of ... TL in moral damages and, reserving our rights to claim further damages, ... TL in material damages.

VALUE OF THE CLAIM: …-TL (Value for court fees)

EXPLANATIONS:

1. My client, [Name and Surname], suffered a work accident on …/…/… at the construction site owned, managed, and under the responsibility of the defendants. My client worked at the said construction site from approximately 5-6 months prior to the accident until the accident date, …/…/…, excluding previous work

2. Defendant [Name and Surname] is the contractor and main employer company that undertook the construction work in question. Defendant [Name and Surname] is the authorized and responsible contractor employer for this construction. The other defendants, [Name and Surname] and [Name and Surname], are subcontractors working for the main employer and the owners of the construction.
3. My client worked as a bricklayer at the construction site where the accident occurred, every day of the week from ... in the morning to ... in the evening, for a daily wage of ... TL and a monthly wage of ... TL. My client has requested to have his insurance started on several occasions, but has been threatened with dismissal and his request has been rejected on the grounds that other workers at the construction site were also uninsured. Finally, on .../.../... the date of the accident, my client was registered as insured by ... under insurance registration number ...
4. My client fell from the second floor of a construction site on …/…/… due to the defendants' failure to take necessary safety precautions, resulting in a serious work-related accident. This accident was reported to the Provincial Directorate of Social Security and the file was sent to the … Insurance Inspectorate on …/…/… with file number …. As a result of the accident, my client suffered life-threatening injuries, fractures in various parts of his body, and currently has fractures in both legs and seven platinum plates in his spine. Furthermore, his seat has burst, leaving him bedridden and dependent on others for care. My client cannot even meet his most basic daily needs independently, a situation documented by a two-month sick leave report. My client has had to cover all treatment and other expenses himself, incurring costs of … TL per week just for diapering. As a result of this work-related accident, my client has lost his ability to work and will no longer be able to practice his primary profession as a bricklayer. Therefore, while reserving our rights to claim further damages, we are currently requesting … TL in compensation for the financial losses incurred.
5. Furthermore, my client became bedridden as a result of this accident and, due to the distress and anxiety of having to spend the rest of their life in this condition, in addition to their physical pain, they are obliged to claim ... TL in moral damages for the emotional suffering they have endured.
6. In their statements regarding the accident, the defendants attempted to shift the blame and responsibility onto each other, demonstrating their lack of concern for my client's suffering and their sole aim to evade responsibility. All defendants violated their obligations under the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations by failing to take necessary safety precautions at the construction site. The defendants admitted to employing my client without insurance. We will also submit to your court the case file number of the criminal case that will be opened as a result of the preliminary investigation into this accident. For all these reasons, it has become necessary to file this lawsuit.

EVIDENCE:

1. Social Security Institution (SSK) employee personal file
2. Workplace records,
3. Workplace accident notification,
4. Social Security Institution Provincial Directorate work accident file,
5. Insured visit slip,
6. Health reports,
7. Documents related to medical expenses,
8. The defendants' statements transcripts,
9. A photograph showing my client's current appearance
10. Witness accounts,
11. Expert examination,
12. Discovery and all legal evidence.

WITNESSES:

1. [Name and Surname] – (Turkish Republic Identity Number: …) – Address, Tel:
2. [Name and Surname] – (Turkish Republic Identity Number: …) – Address, Tel:

LEGAL GROUNDS: Labor Law and related legislation.

CONCLUSION AND REQUEST: For the reasons briefly explained above, we request that the case be accepted.

1. ... TL in moral damages shall be collected jointly and severally from the defendants and given to the plaintiff
2. Without prejudice to our rights regarding further claims, we hereby order that the defendants be held jointly and severally liable for … TL in material compensation and that it be given to the plaintiff
3. Legal interest shall be applied to these compensation items from the date of the incident
4. As the plaintiff's attorney, I respectfully request and demand that the court order the defendants to pay the court costs and attorney's fees.

…/…/…
Plaintiff's
Attorney [Name and Surname]
Signature

Supreme Court Decision

1st Civil Chamber, Case No. 2015/13151 E., Decision No. 2016/6162 K.

"Case Law Text"

...In order for a compensation lawsuit filed due to a work accident to be heard, the incident must be investigated by the Institution and, consequently, the harmful event must be determined as a work accident. This directly affects the compensation lawsuits filed. Specifically, regarding work accidents..  Since compensation claims arising from occupational accidents are, by their nature, lawsuits concerning the recovery of damages not covered by the Institution, it is necessary to determine the income the Institution pays to beneficiaries from the occupational accident insurance branch and deduct this from the calculated material compensation in order to prevent duplicate collection. Furthermore, even in the case of a lawsuit for material compensation alone, there are consequences related to the court's jurisdiction (since the trial cannot be held in labor courts if the incident is not an occupational accident), therefore, it is important for the Institution to investigate the occupational accident and, consequently, to determine that the incident is an occupational accident.
In this specific case, it appears that the incident alleged to be a work accident was not reported to the Social Security Institution as a work accident notification, and the plaintiff was not given a deadline to apply to the Institution to report the work accident.
YThe course of action is as follows: the plaintiff should report the work-related accident to the Social Security Institution; if the Institution does not accept the incident as a work-related accident, the plaintiff should be given a deadline to file a lawsuit against the Social Security Institution and the employer for the determination of the work-related accident, as this will affect their rights; the determination lawsuit should be considered a preliminary issue for this lawsuit, and a decision should be made according to the outcome of this lawsuit…