Injury Compensation News

A man who was injured while working as a security guard in a popular Dublin bar has given evidence at the Circuit Civil Court in support of his claim for an injury in a nightclub.

Longin Gasiorowski (31) was working on the door of the city´s Traffic nightclub in Middle Abbey Street on 16th July 2007, when a superior gave Longin permission to admit a man who had previously been known to cause trouble in the club.

Later during the evening, while patrolling the inside of the club, Longin saw the man arguing with another patron and attempted to summon colleagues to assist him but found that his radio was not working properly. Longin tried to restrain the man by himself but, while doing so, was hit on the head by another man wielding a broken glass bottle.

Longin was immediately taken by taxi to the Emergency Department of St James´ Hospital, where he was treated for multiple lacerations – one of them 3cm in length which left a visible scar behind his ear. Longin was detained in hospital overnight and discharged the following morning with his wounds sutured and his head heavily bandaged.

After seeking legal advice, Longin made a claim for an injury in a nightclub against the owner of the Traffic nightclub – Cyril O´Brien – and his employers, P&B Security Services Limited of Kilwarden, County Kildare; alleging that the two defendants had allowed the nightclub to open without sufficient security staff.

The two defendants denied their liability for Longin´s injuries but, after Longin had given evidence before Mr Matthew Deery at the Circuit Civil Court, the judge was told that the two sides had agreed a preliminary undisclosed settlement of Longin´s claim for an injury in a nightclub and he adjourned the case to allow the parties to implement the settlement.

Dublin South County Council has been found 100 percent responsible in a road crossing accident claim after a hearing at the High Court in Dublin.

The claim was brought by Linda Dargen Burgess from Tallaght, Dublin, on behalf of her son Brandon who – at the age of thirteen – was hit by a motorist at the junction of the Tallaght Bypass and Killinarden Way while trying to cross the road at a temporary crossing erected by the council.

Brandon suffered a serious head injury in the accident and fractures to his arms and legs, and missed a significant period of his education while he recovered from his injuries. As a consequence of his accident, Brandon has now left school without completing his Leaving Certificate.

Brandon´s mother made a claim for road crossing accident compensation against both the driver of the car – James Mulholland from Dundrum, Dublin – and Dublin South County Council, claiming that the way in which the temporary crossing had been set up made it extremely difficult for pedestrians to access the signal box.

It was further alleged that the placement of a Dublin South County Council vehicle at the crossing had obscured the lights on the central island and it was impossible to see whether the signal crossing man was at green or red. Both James Mulholland and Dublin South County Council disputed liability.

In the High Court, Ms Justice Mary Irvine dismissed the road crossing accident claim against Mr Mulholland, after hearing that he had been driving within the speed limit with a green light ahead of him. Ms Justice Mary Irvine agreed with the defendant that even if he was keeping a proper lookout, he did not have a realistic chance of seeing Brandon before he stepped out in front of the car.

She also dismissed claims of contributory negligence made against Brandon by the council, who had alleged that Brandon had failed to take adequate care for his own safety before stepping out into the road. The judge said that in the circumstances she was satisfied that the positioning of the signal box and blocking of the lights on the central island amounted to negligence by the council and found them 100 percent liable for Brandon´s injuries.

Awarding compensation for a road crossing accident of €826,818, Ms Justice Mary Irvine said that, but for the accident, Brandon would have completed his studies at school and will now have a completely different type of future as a result of his injuries.

A woman who caught the heel of her shoe in a hole on a travelator in a Dublin shopping centre has been awarded €13.150 in compensation for a fall on a moving walkway after a hearing at the Circuit Civil Court.

Nuala Holloway Casey (60) from Blackrock in Dublin brought her action against Secret Retail Holdings (trading as Superquinn Shopping Centre) and Kine (Ireland) Limited, travelator and escalator fitters, of Ballymount, County Dublin, after suffering an ankle injury at the Superquinn Shopping Centre in December 2007.

Judge Barry Hickson in the Circuit Civil Court heard that on December 21st 2007, Nuala had caught the high heel of her shoe in a hole at the entrance to a descending moving walkway and fallen heavily – damaging her left ankle. Nuala told the court that she still suffered pain in the ankle and had been forced to give up playing tennis because of the injury.

The court also heard that liability for the injury had been admitted by the joint defendants but how much compensation for a fall on a moving walkway Nuala should receive was in dispute as Nuala had failed to visit her doctor for 10 days after the accident and exacerbated her injury by a separate fall in 2009.

After reviewing the medical evidence in support of Nuala´s claim, Judge Hickson awarded the former Miss Ireland €12,000 compensation for the fall on the moving walkway plus an additional €1,250 to account for the expenses she had incurred which were directly attributable to her accident.

A woman, who slipped and fell while dancing in a bar at Leopardstown Racecourse, has been awarded €28,802 in compensation for a slip on a dance floor after a hearing at the Circuit Civil Court.

Pauline McNamara (60) from Skerries, County Dublin, had visited the racecourse with friends on 28th December 2009 but, after the racing had been cancelled due to fog, retired to “The Fillies Bar” where a disc-jockey was encouraging people to dance in a tiled alcove of the bar.

Pauline was dancing with a man she had just met when she slipped on a wet patch on the floor and fell – hitting her head on the tiles and breaking her left wrist. After seeking medical treatment, Pauline made a claim for injury compensation for her slip on the dance floor, however her claim was contested.

Judge Matthew Deery at the Circuit Civil Court heard evidence from the manager of the bar – Mr Richard Smyth – that the man Pauline had been dancing with had been throwing her around the floor and the accident was caused by his “very rough” actions.

Judge Deery dismissed his defence, stating that impromptu dancing was permitted at the venue, but the bar had an inadequate cleaning system in place to cope with the number of customers it received when racing had been cancelled.

Awarding Pauline €28,802 compensation for a slip on a dance floor, Judge Deery said that the manner in which Pauline had fallen was consistent with the floor having been wet.

A student, who was hit on the head by the wing mirror of a council works vehicle, has been awarded €300,000 in compensation for his pedestrian hit by a truck claim at the High Court.

Ciaran Chestnutt (25) of Greystones, County Wicklow, told Mr Justice Iarflaith O’Neill at the High Court that he did not remember a great deal about the accident because of the injuries he had sustained, but had been told he was standing at pedestrian traffic lights on Paddy Brown’s Road, Waterford, on October 26, 2007 when he was struck by the mirror of a passing truck.

As a result of his accident, Ciaran suffered brain damage which reduced his memory capacity and caused him to lose his senses of taste and smell. He also suffers a permanent black spot in the vision of his right eye and will have a permanent scar on his forehead as a reminder of the accident. Because of his accident, he also lost a year at college where he was studying architectural technology.

Having sought legal advice, Ciaran made a claim for compensation for a pedestrian hit by a truck. However Waterford City Council – which owned the truck – and its employee who had been driving the truck at the time of the accident, Michael Coyne, denied their liability – claiming that Ciaran was the author of his own misfortune by walking into the truck.

After hearing evidence from witnesses representing both parties, Mr Justice Iarflaith O´Neill said he was satisfied the accident was caused by the negligence of the driver for whom the Council was vicariously liable. Awarding Ciaran €300,000 in compensation for a pedestrian hit by a truck, Mr Justice Iarflaith O’Neill said Ciaran´s injuries have had a huge impact on his life, but he had done extremely well coping with his injury and had got his academic career back on track.

A woman, who sustained neck injuries due to a rear-end crash on a go-karting track, has been awarded more than 9,000 Euros in go-karting accident compensation at the Circuit Civil Court.

Karen Wimpory (31) from Maidenhead in Berkshire was visiting Dublin in March 2009 with friends on a hen weekend when, as part of the celebration, she and her friends decided to try their hand at go-kart racing at Kylemore Indoor Karting racetrack.

Having signed a disclaimer which carried a warning that motor sport could be dangerous and “in the absence of any negligence on the part of the company” she was participating entirely at her own risk, Karen watched a safety video before climbing into her go-kart for a four-circuit warm-up.

It was at the end of this warm-up, Karen claimed, that she and other racers had been forced to brake abruptly because a race marshal had stepped on to the track. Although Karen was able to stop in time, another driver had crashed into the back of her kart, pushing her neck and shoulders backwards and leaving with neck injuries similar to whiplash.

After seeking legal advice, Karen made a claim for go-karting accident compensation against Grovepark Services Ltd., which trades as Kylemore Karting, alleging that her neck injuries were attributable to the negligence of the company. Grovepark Services denied that they were liable and the claim proceeded to court.

At the Circuit Civil Court, Mr Justice Matthew Deery heard that although Karen had watch the safety video and signed the disclaimer before commencing her warm-up, there had been no instruction given about what to do when traffic warning lights on the racetrack were illuminated.

Judge Deery was also told by racetrack designer Stewart Cosgrave and race controller Denis Gaffney that, although it was improbable that a race marshal would walk onto the circuit in front of karts travelling in excess of 20 miles per hour, the marshal in question had since died in a road traffic accident and would be unable to provide evidence.

After hearing evidence from forensic engineer Pat Cullerton that the karts did not have headrests or neck restraints fitted, and that novice karters should have also been instructed to sit at full extension when driving, Mr Justice Matthew Deery found in Karen´s favour and awarded her 9,064 Euros in go-karting accident compensation plus costs.

A woman, who suffered facial injuries when she walked into a shop shutter, has had her compensation claim for an accident in a newsagents settled at the Circuit Civil Court in Dublin.

Yvonne McEvoy (42) from Clondalkin, Dublin, had been shopping in Tuthill´s Newsagents in the Liffey Valley Shopping Centre when, in October 2010, she was distracted by a Halloween display as she was leaving the shop and walked into a partly closed shutter.

The shutter, Judge Jacqueline Linnane at the Circuit Civil Court was told, was often partly closed as the shop was about to shut to dissuade new customers from entering, but Yvonne failed to hear the warning shouted to her by a shop assistant and walked straight into it – sustaining an injury to the left side of her face.

Judge Jacqueline Linnane heard from forensic engineer Alan Conlon that CCTV video of the incident showed a previous customer ducking underneath the shutter as he left the shop, but that Yvonne was looking to her right as she walked towards the exit. The judge also heard that Yvonne had fallen pregnant in 2011 and was unable to take painkillers to ease the pain.

Finding Tuthill´s Newsagents negligent by lowering the shutter while there were still customers in the shop, Judge Jacqueline Linnane found in favour of Yvonne and awarded her 17,500 Euros in settlement of her compensation claim for an accident in a newsagents.

A young girl, who sustained a serious neck injury after the crossbar of a goal fell on her head, has had her settlement of compensation for a football injury approved in the High Court.

Jessica Fidgeon Cush (17) from Lusk, County Dublin, was just eleven years of age when her accident happened in October 2006. While playing in goal for Round Towers Lusk GAA in a Gaelic football game at the at the Starlights GAA Club in Collinstown, North Dublin, the crossbar fell from the goalposts and hit Jessica on head.

X-rays taken on her arrival at hospital revealed that Jessica had a lucky escape. Her sixth vertebrae was broken but, had the crossbar had hit her once inch either side of her injury, she would have been killed or paralysed. Jessica was required to wear a neck brace while her injury healed, but also suffered from headaches, nightmares and flashbacks, and was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after developing a fear of dying.

Through her father – Philip – Jessica made a claim for compensation for a football injury against the Gaelic Athletic Association, as the GAA are responsible for the organisation, control and supervision of Gaelic games in the State. In the action it was claimed that the goalposts had been allowed to remain in an unsafe condition, that no inspection of the goalposts had been undertaken and that there was a failure to ensure that the crossbar was adequately secured to the goalposts.

At the High Court in Dublin, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns was told that the case before him was only for the approval of damages, as a compensation settlement of 50,000 Euros had been agreed between the two parties. After hearing the details of the case, Mr Justice Kearns approved the settlement of compensation for a football injury which will be paid into court for one year until Jessica reaches the age of eighteen.

A woman, who suffered cuts and bruises after falling down the steps of a Ryanair airplane, has settled her Ryanair injury compensation claim shortly before a hearing into her case was about to commence.

Malgorzata Jeneralczyk (57), from Poznan, Poland, slipped on the mobile steps due to wet weather as she was disembarking from her flight at Dublin airport and fell to the tarmac below.

She was attended by an airport paramedic who recorded her injuries as a laceration to her left eyebrow and bruising to her left shoulder and ribs and her right hand and fingers.

After seeking legal advice, Malgorzata made a claim for injury compensation against Ryanair – claiming that the company had failed in its duty of care to provide passengers with safe transit. Ryanair disputed her claim for 38,000 Euros and were prepared to defend the company´s position in a court hearing.

However, shortly before the hearing was scheduled to begin, the Circuit Civil Court in Dublin heard that Malgorzata had settled her Ryanair injury compensation claim for an undisclosed amount and that costs were to be charged to Ryanair

A woman from Jacksonville, Florida, has been awarded 13 million dollars in compensation for an elevator fall thirteen years after her horrifying accident occurred.

Janice Beasley (41) was made the award by a jury at Duval County Courthouse after a two-week trial in which the court heard how, in May 1999, Janice was a passenger in an elevator at the office building in which she worked.

The jury were told how the elevator had malfunctioned and fallen from the twenty-third floor to the eighth and how, when an elevator engineer was summoned, rather than extract Janice from the elevator, he sent the elevator – with Janice inside of it – falling down to the basement of the building.

As a result of her experience, Janice suffered multiple bruising which developed into Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) and left her wheelchair-bound with partial paralysis of her left leg. Janice was also diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and depression as a result of her accident.

Janice made a claim for compensation for the elevator fall against the building´s owners Highwoods Properties Inc and Schindler Elevator Company – claiming that Highwoods were responsible for the initial malfunction and Schindler Elevator Company for her second accident.

Schindler Elevator Company denied liability and went to great lengths to avoid going to trial. However, after a ten-year delay in court proceedings, the case was eventually heard – resulting in an award of compensation for an elevator fall against both defendants amounting to just over 13 million dollars.