Injury Compensation News

A falling objecting in a shop has resulted in a €25,000 compensation award in the Circuit Civil Court.

Breeda Redican of Donabate, County Dublin, was injured in July 2009 when a tin of paint fell on her foot from a shelf at the Homebase store in Santry, County Dublin. The accident happened when Redican requested help finding a specific type of paint from a sales assistant. The assistant pointed out the location of the paint on a shelf at face level height but simply stood beside Redican while she attempted to left the can of paint.  The can of paint was 2.5 litters and handle on the tin was not visible because the tins were closed packed together. Redican was unable to heavy paint tin and it slipped and fell on her right foot.  Redican was earring flip-flops and required stitching on her toes. Redican has suffered ongoing reduced mobility in her foot with some pain.

Homebase denied any negligence but Judge Jacquline Linnane awarded €25,000 compensation.

A senior High Court judge has voiced his concerns over the “regrettable, embarrassing, unsatisfactory and unacceptable” delays litigants are experiencing in bringing personal injury claims to court.

Mr Justice John Quirke expressed his opinion in the Dublin High Court after learning that an expert witness, who had been waiting for five days to give testimony on behalf of a defendant in a personal injury claim, had to return to England.

The judge told the assembled barristers and litigants that there were currently 55 cases on his list waiting to be heard – some of which concerned victims with catastrophic injuries – but there were no available courts or judges available for them.

He apologised for the developing pattern where experts were being brought to court on a specific date, only to be kept waiting for longer than a week to give testimony, and commented that Ireland had the lowest number of judges per capita in the developing world.

Mr Justice John Quirke said to the packed court that there was much he could do except fix a date for the hearing to go ahead in the next term and that he was embarrassed by the situation where so many people were left waiting.

Mr Justice John Quirke has spoken out against delays in introducing “periodic payment orders” for personal injury compensation cases in which catastrophic injuries have been sustained. Describing the current lump-sum award system as “a lottery situation”, the chairman of the Working Group on Medical Negligence has been pressing for more than a year for a periodic payment system to be introduced.

The judge was addressing lawyers representing the State and Health Service Executive when his concerns about delays in the promised legislation were made public. Mr Justice John Quirke told the assembly that the informal approval of a life-long payments system had already saved the State “tens of millions” of Euros, however he claimed that seriously ill people would be in an unsatisfactory position if the laws were not speedily introduced.

The judge brought to the lawyers attention two specific cases which are due for review in October 2011.

The first concerned Brid Courtney of Ardfert, County Kerry, who was awarded an interim personal injury settlement of 2 million Euros in compensation for alleged negligence at her birth. Now suffering the consequences of birth-acquired brain damage, Brid will need lifelong care – care which should be paid for in periodic payments if legislation is passed in time.

The second case revolved around Elaine Lennon of Balbriggin, County Dublin, who is now severely disabled due to the failure of the Castle Mill Medical Centre to properly diagnose a brain infection during her pregnancy. Elaine too was awarded in excess of 2 million Euros as an interim settlement on the basis that she would benefit from the periodic payments structure once legislation was introduced.

In his comments to the lawyers, Mr Justice John Quirke expressed that if the State failed to quickly make its intentions clear about how soon periodic payment legislation was to be introduced, judges would have no option but to revert to sanctioning lump sum payments – at great expense to the State and Health Service Executive.

An artist and painter, whose hair fell out following a hair colouring treatment at a Galway hair salon, has won her claim for personal injury compensation at the High Court in Dublin.
Aileen Dunleavy (40) from Salthill, County Galway, sued Hair Republic of Galway for negligence and breach of care of duty towards her after her hair started falling out following a treatment in the salon in March 2007.
Aileen claimed in her action that she had not been warned that the colouring treatment could have an adverse effect on her hair, and that the treatment itself was applied by a stylist who was both inexperienced and insufficiently skilled.
Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O´Neill heard at the High Court how Aileen had become socially withdrawn due to the sense of embarrassment she suffered as a result of what happened to her hair and had been unable to paint in a meaningful way.
Finding in favour of the claimant, Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O´Neill awarded Aileen 45,000 Euros in compensation and described what had happened to her as “a disaster”. The judge stated that he had no doubt that the hairdressing salon was wholly responsible for Aileen’s trauma.

A nightclub patron, who had the top of his ear bitten off in an unprovoked dancefloor attack, has been awarded 40,000 Euros compensation against the owners of the nightclub. Darren Curneen (28) of Clondalkin, County Dublin, had visited the Sidewalk Night Club, Upper O’Connell Street, Dublin, on February 3rd 2002 and was socialising with friends on the dance floor, when he felt a sharp pain from behind. He placed his hand up to his ear and discovered that it was covered in blood and part of the ear was missing. Darren´s attacker was later arrested with blood on his lips and face but, as Mr Justice Peter Charleton heard at the High Court, this had not been an isolated incident as Darren´s attacker had previously bitten another patron´s ear just a few minutes beforehand.
After seeking legal advice, Darren sued Lacefield Taverns Ltd, trading as Sidewalk Night Club, claiming that they owed a duty of care towards him as a patron of their premises and, as the company declined to be represented in court, the case went undefended. Assessing the level of damages to be awarded, Mr Justice Peter Charleton took into account that Darren had suffered pain in the ear for four years after the attack and, although he had been offered plastic surgery to repair the damage, there were no guarantees that any treatment would repair the permanent disfigurement of the ear. When he announced the award of 40,000 Euros the judge added that it was clear the nightclub had a duty of care to those on the premises, and they should have dealt with the attacker and protected their patrons.

A teenage boy, who suffered a severe allergic reaction and hair loss after a hair colouring treatment went wrong, has had a compensation settlement of 12,500 Euros approved in the Civil Circuit Court. The unnamed boy, now aged 17, had gone to Peter Mark Hair Stylists of St. Stephen´s Green, County Dublin, in October 2009, to have highlights he had previously in his hair removed in order to allow his hair to return to its natural colour.
However, after the treatment, the boy´s hair started to fall out and he developed spots, ulcers and a swelling on his scalp. He also suffered a reaction which resulted in a severe skin irritation that spread across his forehead and down to his eye level.
Mr Justice Matthew Deery at the Civil Circuit Court heard that the boy´s reaction had not lasted long due to being prescribed steroids to counter the effects of the treatment and that Peter Mark Hair Stylists had offered the boy 12,500 Euros in compensation plus special damages of 1,915 Euros and the costs of his claim.

A teenage girl, who has represented Ireland playing International Ladies Soccer, has been awarded 10,000 Euros damages for injuries inflicted on her by a shop security man.
Kirsty Hogan (14) of Dublin, was passing the entrance of the Spar Shop in Cumberland Road, Dublin, in October 2008 when the assault happened. The shop security man, Patrick Okorie, attempted to stop Kirsty to obtain her telephone number in relation to an alleged previous incident in the shop.
An argument ensured during which, it was claimed, that Mr. Okorie had kicked Kirsty beneath her jaw – causing her to bleed profusely. Kirsty went straight home to her mother, who reported the incident to the Gardai and took Kirsty to hospital.
In the subsequent Gardai investigation, Mr. Okorie had signed an ‘adult caution’ in Fitzgibbon Street Garda station, and although alleging during the court hearing that he was acting in self-defence, Judge Joseph Mathews accepted the account of the incident given by Kirsty.
The award of 10,000 Euros was made against the owner of the store, Raymond Conboy.

Survivors and families of the victims of the plane crash which killed six passengers and injured six more at Cork Airport in February, are preparing to claim up to 100 million Euros in compensation.
The crash, which happened in thick fog, caused the commuter plane from Belfast to flip over and burst into flames on its third attempt at landing. Both the pilot and co-pilot were killed in the accident.
The survivors and dependants of those who were killed are compiling a legal case against the Isle of Man airline Manx2, the Spanish flight operator Flightline BCN and the American manufacturers of the Fairchild Metroliner sw4.
As Ireland is a signatory to the Montreal Convention, the claimants would usually be entitled to compensation from the CAA not exceeding 120,000 Euros per injured person. However legal advisers feel that a more acceptable figure can be attained through court action – citing cases such as the Air France Flight 358 crash in Toronto which was partially settled after 3 years for $12 million.
Manx2 have already denied responsibility, as they claim that they only acted as a booking agent for the flight and that they chartered the aircraft from Flightline BCN. More will be known later this week when the preliminary report into the disaster by the Air Accident Investigation Unit is released.

Dublin Circuit Civil Court has been told how a teenage schoolgirl was falsely accused of shoplifting from Dunne´s Stores in the Ilac Centre, Dublin. Mr Justice Matthew Deery heard that 17-year-old Tanya Pharsicna of Kimmage, County Dublin, had been shopping with her mother, when she was stopped in Henry Street by three Dunne´s security guards. The guards insisted that Tanya return to the store with them, where just the two shoppers had previously purchased a shopping trolley and used it to transport the rest of their shopping.
One of the guards, it was claimed, had firmly placed his hand on Tanya´s shoulder and marched her back into the store where the contents of the shopping trolley placed on a table. After determining that the goods had all been paid for, the shopping was replaced into the trolley and Tanya was informed that she was free to leave. The security men later admitted to Tanya and her mother that a mistake had been made. Tanya – suing through her father Espona Pharsicna – claimed damages for assault and defamation, as she felt she had been falsely portrayed as a shoplifter. A settlement offer of 15.000 Euros made by Dunnes Stores was approved by Mr Justice Deery and the payment will be made into court until Tanya celebrates her eighteenth birthday later this year.

According to figures recently released by the National Treasury Agency, compensation payments made by the State for personal injury, property damage and clinical negligence claims rose by 46 per cent in 2010.
The amount of compensation paid out by the State last year totalled in excess of 93.2 million Euros; however the total estimated liability on outstanding claims is fast approaching 1 billion Euros.
The massive leap has been attributed to an increase in civil actions for malpractice against hospitals and medical practitioners, which for the first time has become the responsibility of the State Claims Agency rather than the Health Service Executive’s.
Speaking last September, Minister for Health Mary Harney commented on the growing trend of clinical negligence claims, stating that the failure to protect patient safety in hospitals was having economic as well as human consequences. During 2010, the State Claims Agency resolved 1,690 claims, but at the end of the year still had 4,114 claims outstanding.