Woman gets Dhs700,000 compensation for husband’s death

Aya Al Deeb, Staff Reporter

The Abu Dhabi Court of Cassation upheld a ruling issued by the Court of First Instance obligating a company dealing in concrete work, two of its employees and an insurance company to pay Dhs700,000 to a woman and her three children in compensation for the death of her husband.

The victim died after a pillar of the base of a concrete-lifting truck had collapsed, causing the truck to lose balance and an iron pipe to hit his head.

In her capacity as guardian of her three minor children, the woman filed a lawsuit against the defendants in which she demanded they pay Dhs1 million in compensation for the physical and moral damage incurred by the death of her husband plus a legal interest at 12 per cent from the date of death until full payment.

She explained in her lawsuit that the two employees caused injuries to her husband due to their negligence in operating the concrete pump without making sure that it was properly fixed.

This led a pillar of the truck’s base to collapse and the iron pipe to hit her husband’s head, causing his death, she added, noting that the truck involved in the accident was insured with the said insurance company.

The Criminal Court issued a final judgment convicting the two employees of the charges levelled against them, she said. The Court of First Instance obligated the defendants to pay Dhs700,000 jointly to the plaintiff in compensation for the physical and moral damage she sustained plus an annual interest of 5 per cent from the date the judgment became final until full payment, she added.

The plaintiff, however, appealed against the ruling, and so did the concrete works and insurance companies.

The Court of Appeal ruled that the compensation awarded be reduced to Dhs500,000 and the concrete works company and its employees be obligated to pay the amount jointly. While the court rejected the lawsuit against the insurance company, both the victim’s wife and the concrete works company appealed against the ruling through the Court of Cassation, which upheld the wife’s appeal and rejected that of the concrete works company.

An earlier report said the Abu Dhabi Court of Appeal upheld a ruling of the Court of First Instance that obligated a company to pay the wife of a worker and his three children Dhs200,000 in compensation, in addition to obligating it to pay all heirs Dhs120,000 distributed equally among them as moral compensation after the loss of their sole breadwinner. The heirs of the deceased filed a lawsuit against the company, saying their breadwinner died when a crane fell on him during work.