News

A social worker who claims she became so stressed by her 100-hour a week caseload that she suffered a mental collapse has begun a high court bid for damages.

Maureen Pratley, of Honiton in Devon, said her work for Surrey Council between 1994 and 1998 became so overwhelming she contemplated suicide.

Her barrister told Mr Justice Buckley that 49-year-old Pratley's workload shot up from 75 to 150 cases at any one time after she was promoted to case manager for elderly people in the Leatherhead area in November 1994.

Soon Pratley was working from 8am to 10pm every day, taking work home with her to complete in the evenings and at weekends, he told the court in London.

In October 1996 she was signed off sick suffering from depression and ended up receiving treatment in West London's Priory Clinic. When she finally sought retirement on the grounds of ill health, Pratley was refused, dismissed from her job in May 1998 and hasn't worked since.

The council maintains that Pratley was fit to return to work and says it has done nothing wrong.