Mrs Sahota’s two children, Nina Haer and Harman Sahota, along with her brother-in-law Satti Heir, say they have had no alternative but to take legal action against the company.
Lawyers acting for the family have now launched a case against Menzies in a bid to force the multinational to pay the cost of transferring Mrs Sahota from Hillingdon Hospital to the private Wellington Hospital, a provider of specialist complex care the NHS simply cannot manage.
“Jaz deserves the best care and the best treatment and this just isn’t available on the NHS,” said Satti. “To stand a fighting chance of making any improvement she needs to be moved to the Wellington. Every day she stays at Hillingdon – and they are doing their best – it is a day we’re losing her and that’s awful.”
Mrs Sahota, a turnaround coordinator for Menzies Aviation who had 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 headfirst into a conveyor belt while she was helping to offload luggage from an aeroplane.
When Mrs Sahota’s children were informed of what had happened by Menzies management that evening they were assured the company would do everything they could to help.
‘They’ve abandoned us’
But as weeks of desperate anxiety went by the family says they heard less and less from Menzies. They say the only practical assistance offered by the firm had been to pay for taxis taking them to visit her at Hillingdon Hospital.
“They’ve not kept their word,” said Nina, 31. “Menzies said they would do all they could to help, but they’ve abandoned us and in fact have become completely obstructive.”
Satti added: “They should be prioritising Jaz and getting her the care she needs. She was an employee of long-standing, a good, devoted worker and they owe it to her.”
Since it was founded by John Menzies as a bookstall and wholesaler in Edinburgh, in 1833, the firm has grown to become a transport services giant, with cargo handling, ground operations and passenger services at airports across the globe.
Its global revenue grew by 10.7 per cent to $2.2 billion last year, its third year of consecutive double-digit revenue growth.
But lawyers for Mrs Sahota’s family have discovered several cases that have raised serious questions over Menzies’ commitment to the health and safety of its employees.
Workplace incidents
These include the case of Rebecca Smith, a Menzies employee, who was injured during the loading of luggage onto an aircraft at London Luton Airport on Christmas Eve 2016.
Ms Smith fell through a gap in the railing at the top of a luggage belt loader while kneeling on it to fasten cargo straps when the belt loader was struck by a passing vehicle.
The HSE’s investigation found Menzies had foreseen the risk of a collision between the various vehicles, but had failed to implement measures to guard against the risk of driver error.
The investigation also found the company was aware that belt-loaders had a gap in the railings 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 he was thrown from a baggage 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, in violation of company policy and federal guidelines.
Ongoing treatment
There have been several other fatal workplace accidents involving Menzies employees around the world and Mrs Sahota’s solicitors, Fieldfisher, are going to court in the coming weeks to seek the disclosure of material that could assist in a possible future claim of negligence.
For the moment they are 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 Mrs Sahota to Wellington would cost in the region of £300,000 for ongoing treatment, an amount the family simply do not have.
“That kind of money is impossible for our household, but for Menzies, it’s a drop in the ocean,” said Satti. “We’re a normal working-class family and we can’t afford to pay what she needs.”
For now, Nina and Harman have to cope with juggling family life with daily visits to their mother’s bedside. The agony has taken its toll, with Harman, 24, on stress-related leave from his job as a signal engineer with Network Rail and Nina 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 spokesman 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 ongoing, we cannot provide any further details at this time. Our thoughts are with our colleague and their family.”
Robert Johnson is a UK-based business writer specializing in finance and entrepreneurship. With an eye for market trends and a keen interest in the corporate world, he offers readers valuable insights into business developments.
