Ghanaian in Italy cries foul against his lawyers

… lost his foot on the job and gets €43,000 compensation

A Ghanaian resident in Italy is angry against his lawyers claiming they mishandled his case before court and also cheated him.

Davies Oko Kotei, 42, who hails from La in Accra, said he has been living in Italy for the past 15 years and until September 2007 was working at a factory which manufactures roofing bricks. He recounted an accident on the job which has left him emotionally traumatised with an amputated foot and whilst seeking justice and compensation have been let down by two lawyers in Italy.

Speaking to me from his home, located in Fiorano (a suburb of the city Modena in the north of Italy) where many Ghanaians and other immigrants are based in Italy, Oko Kotei said he started working with a company in Modena in September 2000 where there were 4 other Ghanaians and 10 Arabs among a host of Italians.

On 15th November 2002, the day of the fatal accident, he and another Arab colleague were asked to go the underground of the factory, about 3 stories deep, to remove sand from one of the clogged machines which was sending sand to the surface for the production of the bricks. He picked the story from here: “It was a normal routine but it has rained that day and the underground was wet, we were there working for about an hour when I slipped in the course of removing the sand from the clogged machine. I tried to hold on to one of the machines that have been put off to get my balance but rather my left foot got stuck into another one which was moving. It began to drag me gradually and was heading towards another machine that could have dismembered my body. As much as I tried to free myself I couldn’t, my colleague couldn’t free me either and one could not hear him from where we were even if he calls for help. He became scared and quickly made his way to the surface through the steps we went down to have the machine switched off. Meanwhile, I was dragged further along but forced to release my foot from the entanglement and was thrown unto the floor in the process,” he recalls.

By the time help came he was lying helplessly at the underground bleeding profusely as the left foot has been twisted with many bones broken. It took a combination of fire service personals and the police to bring him to the surface through another opening from the ground where he was rushed to hospital.

Doctors worked hard on the damaged foot for 6 months on continuous visits and other operations were performed but the pains and injuries were too severe and it has to be amputated in April 2003. But another ‘pain’ set in later when he was approached by friends to help him look for a lawyer to seek compensation for his injuries. He however pointed out he finally started work again at the same factory 2 years after the accident being made to do a less laborious job until his services was terminated on September 10, 2007 and added for the 2 years he was recuperating at home on his injury was paid his full salary.

The lawyer who he described as an African origin (one of the very few in Italy) worked out through the courts and without having his client appear in court claimed that he has won him €60,000 compensation on the case. Oko Kotei further went on: “I was surprised he didn’t take me to court after coming out of hospital when the case was going on. He told me he managed to get me €20,000 as part payment of the compensation. The whole thing didn’t sink in well to my understanding and when we finally made it to the bank to cash the money I realised an amount of €30,000 has been paid as the part payment. When I asked the bank official why being given €20,000 out of the amount he explained my lawyer has already paid €10,000 of it into his own account. I then turned to him and asked for an explanation to which he replied it is part payment for his services.” Kotei said he became furious and from then there has not been a good relation with the lawyer as he goes to him for his money. In the final count with this lawyer, out of the rest of the total money paid to the Ghanaian, the lawyer collected a further €7,000 bringing the cost of his fee to €17,000 whilst Kotei received a total of €43,000.

He told me in the course of narrating his story he is still dragging on the matter with this lawyer and still to seek justice on the case engaged the service of another lawyer, this time an Italian lady, who went on with the case because according to the first lawyer an appeal can be made.

The second lawyer who charged him €4,000 before another lengthy case in court finally claimed she has won the Ghanaian an amount of €240,000 on the case, again even without her client appearing in court, but this turned out to be untrue as Kotei persistently asked for the money to no avail.

In a bizarre twist of events the Ghanaian went further to take a third lawyer who upon investigation revealed to him the second lawyer won the case with a further €25,000 plus an 8% interest which has still not been paid to the client. When confronted by her client on this amount the second lawyer explained she didn’t win any amount on the case and that Kotei misunderstood her initially.

The Ghanaian says the only money he receives per month from the Italian Government for his deformity in this ordeal is €350. According to him in both cases the first two lawyers handling of the case was judged based on a sickness report rather than being injured on the job which could have given him 60% of his monthly salary instead of the present 25% fetching him only €350. He further explained that according to his third lawyer the case can be opened again but not till the year 2010.

His story is one of the sad stories that some immigrants face on the job in Italy and he is appealing for help, from any quarters, even at the EU court for justice.

Oko Kotei can be contacted at: 039-380-4652-679 e-mail:okokotei@yahoo.com