false accusation

[steiff]

i am a contractor working on a housing project,
working on electrical upgrades in tenanted apartments,
a week ago one of the tenants informed me that her son had touched an exposed electrical socket ,(one of my coworkers had not refixed the socket cover)
the mother claimed the child had been badly burned
she would not let me see the child and she did not seek medical attention for the child,
now one week later she wants to claim compensation for her childs injury,
i have since seen the child and he is not burned or injured in any way that i can see,
i do not believe the child was injured but the mother informs me she will take this further if she is not financially compensated,
what can i do about this ?

 

[tpajet]

I would suggest calling a lawyer. The problem is the cover was left open, meaning your company was neglegent.

However, I don't think I'd be too concerned if it did go to court. I have a strong background in electronics and electricity, and I know that if the child did get burned, that would have to have been a very severe shock that would have required medical attention, and he would still have an injury. In fact, I don't even beleive it's possible to have gotten burned from a shock and still be walking. Even if the current only flowed across his hand, if it burned him, he would have some serious problem with his muscles, and a week later would still have signs of injury.

So, the fact that she didn't seem medical attention is enough that I would, myself, tell her to pound sand and proceed if she feels she must, but these things can get sticky, so call a lawyer.