A local authority attempted to cover up an incident in which an ultra-orthodox woman broke her hand after falling on a protruding pavement while on a walk with her elderly mother in the city. The woman continued to work even though she was injured, only realizing later that she was entitled to compensation. She sought the help of attorney Binyamin Arbiv, who specializes in personal injuries, to file a lawsuit. However, the municipality denied the existence of the damaged pavement, providing photos of the area in which the paving appeared intact and uniform, contrary to the testimony of the plaintiff and her mother. Attorney Arbiv interrogated the representative of the municipality’s infrastructure department and finally proved that a repair was made on the spot. It was decided that the municipality must pay slightly over 60 thousand shekels in compensation to the woman. This incident teaches two important aspects – the importance of documenting the cause of an injury as quickly as possible and with maximum quality, and in case of denial, seeking professional help to understand the details and analyze the situation.
An exotic story of a cover-up attempt by a local authority ended last week with a resounding ruling by the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court judge who ordered the municipality to pay over 60 thousand shekels in compensation.
This is an ultra-orthodox woman who went for a walk with her elderly mother in the city, came across a protruding pavement, fell and broke her hand.
The plaintiff, in her innocence and dedication to her workplace, continued to work even after she was injured, and only after the incident did she realize that she was entitled to compensation and turned to attorney Binyamin Arbiv, who specializes in personal injuries, to file a lawsuit on her behalf.
Because she is holding a kosher cell phone and does not have a camera, documentation of the striking pavement as photographed by a family member a few days after the fall was submitted.
However, the municipality stunned the plaintiff when it completely denied the existence of the damaged paving, and provided photos from the scene in which the paving appears intact and uniform, contrary to the testimony of the plaintiff and her mother and contrary to the documentation submitted on her behalf.
Attorney Arbiv interrogated the representative of the municipality’s infrastructure department at length, who initially denied the existence of the hazard and the fact that the municipality rushed to fix it and cover up the fault.
And then came the winning question: why are the shades of some of the paving stones in the corrected documentation of the municipality different from the shade of the other paving stones around?
After a significant investigation and with no choice, the representative of the municipality admitted that a repair was made on the spot, and also had to admit the improbability that the repair was done by a random citizen and not by the municipality…
From now on, all that remains is the discussion about the amount of compensation due to the woman, and it was determined as mentioned on the amount of slightly more than 60 thousand shekels decided by Judge Keren Shemesh.
Adv. Arbiv: “This case teaches two important aspects: first, in the event of an injury – document the cause of the injury as quickly as possible and with maximum quality. And secondly, in case of denial, let the examining eyes of a professional understand the details and analyze the situation.”