The settlement of a claim for an injury caused by eating restaurant food has been halved by a judge who said the plaintiff contributed to his injury.
Shane McQuillan (32) from Swords in County Dublin made his claim for an injury caused by eating restaurant food after fracturing an upper right back molar while eating a sausage and bacon sandwich at the Gate Clock Bar at Dublin Airport on 23rd March 2013.
In his claim Shane alleged that his injury was due to biting on a tough rind on a rasher of bacon that had been left on display “for a number of hours”. The owners of the bar denied liability for his fractured tooth, and the Injuries Board issued Shane with an authorisation to pursue his claim in court.
At the hearing at Swords District Court, Judge Patricia McNamara was told that the bacon in Shane´s sandwich was served from a steel tray over a pan of hot water from behind a glass display. It was claimed by the bar manager that the food is changed every ninety minutes – although she could not produce records to substantiate her claim.
The bar´s solicitor argued that, if Shane believed that the bacon was stale, he should not have put it in his sandwich – and therefore that Shane was responsible for his own injury, if the bacon rind was stale at all.
After hearing that Shane still suffers occasional pain from the injury and cannot drink cold drinks, Judge McNamara found in Shane´s favour – initially awarding him €6,500 in general damages for his pain and suffering, and €2,500 in special damages.
However, the judge said that she was only finding in his favour because the bar could not provide records to show that the food was changed regularly and that Shane “should have been careful of a crispy rasher rind”. Judge McNamara then said that she was assigning Shane 50 percent for the contribution he made to his injury – reducing the value of his claim for an injury caused by eating restaurant food by half to €4,500.