Teacher wins #150k after losing voice trying to make herself heard in class!

LONDON - A British teacher has been awarded 150,000 pounds after she lost her voice trying to make herself be heard in the classroom.

Joyce Walters, 50, from Ickenham in Middlesex, taught English to foreign students at nearby Harlington Adult Education Centre, housed at Harlington Community School, between September 2005 and July 2006.

The mother-of-two, gave lessons in a classroom next to a roofed courtyard where 11-18-year-olds played during lunchtimes and breaks, and she damaged her vocal cords straining to raise her volume above the clamour.

After a doctor diagnosed non-cancerous vocal cord nodules, she missed the 2006/2007 academic years, and as a result she has been forced to quit her job as an English teacher.

Walters, who taught for 12 years, won a total of 156,000 pounds in out-of-court settlements from her council after claiming she could never teach again.

She says she now struggles to speak on the phone and suffers a sore throat and hoarseness when she raises her voice in noisy bars.

Walters, who had months of speech therapy following her voice loss, has defended her payout, saying her injuries had a devastating effect on her life.

“Teaching was my calling, I adored the classroom and miss it so much, but the problems with my voice make it impossible for me to ever go back,” the Daily Mail quoted her as saying.

Joanne Jefferies, a specialist in workplace injuries at law firm Irwin Mitchell, who represented Walters, added that her client was ignored when she tried to raise her concerns.

“Despite attempts to raise her concerns with her employer, she was ignored and it has resulted in this terrible, life-altering injury,” she stated. (ANI)