Injury Compensation News

David Rawlings, an engineer, died in January 2000 following a routine investigative procedure called a laparotomy, a surgical procedure involving an incision through the abdominal wall to gain access into the abdominal cavity.   There were complications during the procedure and Rawlings died the following day.

St James’s Hospital, Dublin and the Health Service Executive did not contest the case and settled for €400,000 before it went to the High Court.  If the case had gone before the High Court, it would have been for damages assessment only.

The payment was divided between between the current wife, Ariuna Rawlings (€250,000), and his previous wife Fiona Rawlings (€150,000), with whom he had a child and was providing financial support.

Because medical negligence was admitted, the exact details of the case were not revealed.

The parents of two children have just obtained compensation of €6,500 plus legal costs for psychological injury from Budget Travel. Armed intruders broke into their holiday apartment in Lanzarote. The incident happened in May 2002 when the children were 8 and 5 years old.   In a separate claim, the parents obtained compensation of €28,400 plus legal costs at the Circuit Court in Killarney in January 2006 for loss of property, personal trauma and the recovery of the holiday cost.  The family claimed that Budget Travel failed to provide suitably secure accommodation.

The family were staying at Los Orquideas apartments in Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote when they were awoken at 3.00 by three intruders, one of whom was in their children’s bedroom with a long screwdriver.  The gang removed the content of their security box, including €1,600 in cash,  €12,000 in jewellry, passports, and a credit card.

A Waterford man has just made a settlement for £3m in compensation for road traffic accident injuries in an accident that cost the lives of two other people.

Owen Griffin, aged 26 and from Waterford, was asleep in the back of a vehicle that was involved in a head-on collision with a motorcycle in Scotland.  The claim was made against the driver of the car in which Owen Griffin was a seat-belted passenger.

The accident happened in March 2004 and resulted in a coma and brain injuries. Owen Griffen has been living in an assisted living home in Waterford since February 2007.

The settlement was made out of court prior to a High Court hearing in Belfast (the driver was from Omagh in County Tyrone).

A Cook County, Illinois, jury has awarded  $8.1 million to an Irish emigrant carpenter, Don Duffy, who dived into a swimming pool and was rendered an incomplete quadriplegic when he accidently dived into 3½ feet deep water.

Don Duffy was 22 years old at the time of the accident and was found 50% liable for his own injuries, meaning the award was reduced to $4,051,200. It is the highest ever pool-related accident compensation award in Illinois.

The case took considerable time to work its way through the legal system, where it was initially dismissed through a summary judgement that was reversed in an appellate court, which ruled that there was a potential product liability based on the pool design.

The pool had an unusual design with two shallow sections – one at either end rather than the traditional deep end and shallow end design used in almost all swimming pools.  A product liability claim was made against the installer of the swimming pool, Black Oak Pool & Supply, and the manufacturer of the pool liner, Latham Plastics.  The jury found in favor of Latham Plastics.   Liability was shared equally between Black Oak Pool & Supply and Don Duffy so the the reward was reduced by half.

The latest statistics show that €31 million in compensation was awarded for workplace injuries in 2008.

Unlike personal injuries in general where most awards are made to women, three quarters of workplace accident injuries are suffered by men.  There were 972 claims in 2008 resulting in an average award of  €32,266.  One third of awards were for over €38,000 and the largest award was €582,000.

The construction industry suffers the most workplace injuries – 28% of the total.  The statistics show that injuries due to workplace accidents are remarkably well spread around different sectors: manufacturing 20%, hotels and restaurants 13%, retail 12%, public bodies 9%, and transport/storage 5%.

Three quarters of workplace accidents were caused by slips, trips, and falls (44%), lifting or handling (18%), and machinery and defective equipment (16%).

Interestingly, many accident victims have multiple injuries.  The most common injuries are sprains (42%), fractured bones (25%),  cuts (24%), bruises (19%), and crushing (12%).

A €250,000 settlement has been approved by  Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns of the High Court for the family of a motorcyclist, James Walsh, who died in a tragic accident on Fethard Road, Clonmel, County Tipperary. The award was made to Catherine Walsh and the couple’s two daughters, who arrived at the scene of the accident shortly after it happened.  The action was for mental stress and nervous shock.  The children were eight and fourteen years old at the time of the accident.

It was alleged in court that the accident happened when James Walsh took evasive action to avoid another vehicle that emerged from a side road.  Walsh swerved away from the vehicle but lost control of his motorbike and died from the injuries in the resulting crash.