The woman who sued PUB for $5 million after she fell into a manhole formally accepted a settlement offer by insurers for the national water agency yesterday before the High Court.
Madam Chan Hui Peng, 47, had indicated that she would accept the offer, which had been on the table since Nov 10, on Thursday evening, after being grilled on the stand over the past four days of the trial.
The terms of the settlement offer are confidential.
The chartered accountant fractured her ankle after she fell into a 1.8m-deep manhole in Simon Road, near Kovan, on Dec 1, 2015.
In her lawsuit, she alleged that the accident also caused her to suffer post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Last month, she added a diagnosis of schizophrenia in February to the list of injuries that she attributed to the accident.
PUB accepted 70 per cent of the liability for the accident but disputed her claims of PTSD and schizophrenia.
The trial opened on Monday and Madam Chan was cross-examined by PUB's lawyers, Mr K. Anparasan and Ms Grace Tan, from WhiteFern. The lawyers played surveillance footage of Madam Chan walking normally and showed her active Carousell account to refute her claim that she was wary of strangers.
They took her through pre-trial hearing transcripts to establish her mental capacity around the time her alleged schizophrenia symptoms appeared. They also went through hospital notes to show that she tried to get a psychologist to amend reports that her PTSD symptoms did not amount to a disorder.
On Thursday evening, Madam Chan's lawyer, Mr Ivan Lee from LegalStandard, told The Straits Times: "While our client would have liked to press on with the trial, the strain of the litigation over the past four days has taken a toll on her mental health and emotional well-being."
He added that Madam Chan has decided to accept PUB's offer and move on with her life.
Yesterday, Mr Anparasan told the court that he would be making submissions on costs.
He said there are cost consequences arising from Madam Chan adding schizophrenia to her claim last month. The amendment resulted in more than a thousand pages of clinical notes being filed and expert witness fees were incurred.
Mr Anparasan said he would also be making "strong submissions" on Madam Chan's conduct, such as how she "thwarted mediation".
Another of Madam Chan's lawyers, Mr L. Devadason, said these issues were raised before PUB's offer to settle.
The lawyers told Judicial Commissioner Andre Maniam that they would try to resolve the issues, failing which they will make submissions in court on Dec 7.
