Morrisons fined £3.5m after death of employee with epilepsy

theguardian.com:

Morrisons has been fined £3.5m after an employee with epilepsy died when he fell from the stairs during a seizure.Matthew Gunn, 27, suffered catastrophic head injuries at the supermarket’s store in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire.

He had been using the staircase to access his locker on the first floor of the shop.Gloucester crown court heard he died in September 2014, three-and-a-half months after his mother had told managers of the risk due to his frequent seizures.

Gunn died in hospital 12 days after the fall, having never regained consciousness.Morrisons had denied three health and safety charges but was convicted by the jury.

It had admitted a fourth charge before the trial.Richard Atkins KC, prosecuting, told the court Morrisons knew of Gunn’s condition and should have moved his locker to the ground floor and stopped him using the stairs.He said: “Many in the management were aware of the frequency of the tonic-clonic seizures.”Gunn’s father, Steve, told the court in a statement his son’s death had culminated in his marriage ending and him having to give up his job as a nurse.He said: “I was looking forward – especially with my impending retirement – to spending more time with Matt.