A call center worker has won a court appeal to sue BT for £30,000 after a’sudden crackling’ sound on his headset left him with hearing so acute that the sound of a Terry’s Chocolate Orange being tapped on a table causes him pain.
When an intense high-pitched noise broke into the phone line while Mark Storey was on a client call at a BT call center in Lancaster, he claims he suffered ‘acoustic shock.’
The sound was like a ‘knitting needle in my ear,’ according to the 48-year-old, and it has permanently impaired his hearing, making even everyday sounds ‘intolerable.’
BT, on the other hand, disputes responsibility, claiming that Mr Storey, of Carnforth, Lancashire, must prove that he was exposed to harmful noise and that his hearing was harmed as a result.
Mr Storey’s petition was dismissed by Burnley County Court in 2020, but it has now been revived by the Court of Appeal, allowing him to pursue his damages claim.
Lady Justice Andrews outlined the case in the appeal judgment, saying Mr Storey was working at the BT call center in Lancaster in April 2014 when the alleged event occurred.
He was on the phone when he heard a’sudden intense high-pitched crackling sound’ that he described as “feeling like someone had shoved a knitting needle through my ear.”
According to his testimony, he threw it down and informed his manager, and coworkers speculated that a pile of cabling beneath his desk may have experienced a power surge, contributing to the rapid burst of noise.
‘Mr Storey says he experienced symptoms of nausea and dizziness that evening and a high pitched multi-tonal whistling sound in his right ear, which caused him serious sleep disturbance then and since,’ the judge continued.
‘He also had a headache down the side of his head which lasted for 48 hours. The tinnitus persisted. He became intolerant of loud noise, to the extent that even the sound of a colleague tapping a chocolate orange on the table before unwrapping it was unbearable.
‘He underwent numerous examinations and tests, and a course of cognitive behavioural therapy to help to alleviate the symptoms of the tinnitus.
‘Despite this, the tinnitus became bilateral in September 2014. It is now classed as permanent. He has developed a fear of putting anything over or close to his ears.’