Ms Sahota’s two children, Nina Haer and Harman Sahota, and her brother-in-law Satti Heir, say they have no choice but to take legal action against the company.
Lawyers acting on behalf of the family have now launched a case against Menzies in an attempt to force the multinational to pay the costs of Ms Sahota’s transfer from Hillingdon Hospital to the private Wellington Hospital, a provider of specialist complex care that the NHS simply cannot handle.
“Jaz deserves the best care and the best treatment and this is simply not available on the NHS,” Satti said. ‘To have any chance of any improvement she must be moved to Wellington. Every day she stays at Hillingdon – and they are doing the best they can – it is a day we lose her and that is devastating.”
Ms Sahota, a turnaround coordinator for Menzies Aviation who has worked at Heathrow since she was 22, suffered disabling physical injuries and brain damage after a scarf she was wearing got caught and dragged her head onto a conveyor belt as she helped unload luggage. a plane.
When Ms Sahota’s children were informed of what had happened by Menzies management that evening, they were assured that the company would do everything it could to help.
‘They let us down’
But as the weeks of desperate fear passed, the family heard less and less from Menzies. They say the only practical help the company provided was to pay for taxis to take them to Hillingdon Hospital.
“They haven’t kept their word,” said Nina, 31. “Menzies said they would do everything they could to help, but they have let us down and have essentially become completely obstructive.”
Satti added: “They should prioritize Jaz and get her the care she needs. She was a long-time employee, a good, dedicated worker, and they have her to thank for that.”
Since it was founded by John Menzies in 1833 as a bookstall and wholesaler in Edinburgh, the company has grown into a transportation services giant, providing cargo handling, ground operations and passenger services at airports around the world.
Global sales grew 10.7 percent last year to $2.2 billion, the third year in a row of double-digit growth.
But lawyers for Ms Sahota’s family have uncovered several issues that have raised serious questions about Menzies’ commitment to the health and safety of its employees.
Incidents in the workplace
This includes the case of Rebecca Smith, a Menzies employee, who was injured while loading luggage onto a plane at London Luton Airport on Christmas Eve 2016.
Ms. Smith fell through an opening in the railing at the top of a baggage belt loader while kneeling on it to fasten the cargo straps when the belt loader was struck by a passing vehicle.
The HSE’s investigation found that Menzies had anticipated the risk of a collision between the different vehicles but had failed to take steps to prevent the risk of driver error.
The investigation also found that the company was aware that belt loaders had a hole in the railing and Menzies pleaded guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. They were fined £181,500 with costs of £21,043.
In February 2014, Menzies was fined £60,000 by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) following the death of Cesar Valenzuela, 51, after being thrown from a luggage cart at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) . HE did not have a functioning seat belt.
Menzies said at the time that Mr. Valenzuela had not been wearing a seat belt, which violated company policy and federal guidelines.
Ongoing treatment
There have been further fatal workplace accidents involving Menzies workers around the world and Ms Sahota’s lawyers, Fieldfisher, will go to court in the coming weeks to seek disclosure of material that could help in a possible future claim of negligence.
They are currently concentrating on obtaining the financial help she needs for specialist medical care.
Jill Greenfield, head of serious injury at Fieldfisher, said: “My team and I are investigating what happened to try to get the best care for Jasbir.”
It is estimated that transferring Ms Sahota to Wellington would cost around £300,000 for ongoing treatment, an amount the family simply does not have.
“That kind of money is impossible for our household, but for Menzies it is a drop in the ocean,” said Satti. “We are a normal working-class family and we cannot afford to pay what she needs.”
For now, Nina and Harman must cope with juggling their family life with daily visits to their mother’s bedside. The pain has taken its toll: Harman, 24, is on stress-related leave from his job as a signaling engineer at Network Rail and Nina has been forced to take a less demanding recruitment job near the family home in Hayes.
But they are determined to keep fighting, for their mother’s sake.
A spokesperson for Menzies said: “An active investigation is underway following a serious incident involving a Menzies employee at Heathrow Airport earlier this year. As this is still ongoing, we cannot provide further details at this time. Our thoughts are with our colleague and their family.”