A number of events in the courts have caught my attention and I feel they are relevant and of interested to the readers of Bottom Line Express. The first involved a worker who claimed that he injured his leg whilst moving panes of glass in Blackpool Shopping Centre. He was taking a case against both his employer and the main contractor. The defence counsel stated that the worker “presented as totally disabled” and was reliant on a walking frame and needed assistance to move around. The court was shown a video of the claimant using walking frame and needing assistance to attend a Consultants examination room, but 15min later he was shown to be walking freely without the frame and driving a car. Following this the defence counsel informed the court that their client was withdrawing both claims.
Another case centred on injuries sustained by a stable lad when he was thrown form a horse and sustained injuries to both wrists, it subsequently transpired that not only was the horse in question not at the yard at the time of the alleged accident, but also the injured party was not actually employed by the yard at the alleged date of the injuries. Certainly the need for record keeping and thorough accident report is demonstrated here.
In December of last year a claim against Eddie Rockets turned out to be unsuccessful for a mother who was suing for damages sustained to her two year old daughter when she got her finger stuck in the metal lid of a sugar dispenser. The lid eventually had to be cut off in hospital and the child has a small scar on her finger. Her Mother claimed that the dispenser didn’t comply with safety regulations and the restaurant should have warned patrons of the risk. I have to admit I can’t find any EU safety regulations concerning sugar dispensers and I am happy to say that Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns took the view that this was “another case of compensation culture gone mad”. This case had travelled from the Circuit Court to the High Court, having been dismissed previously and appealed to the High Court. The child’s mother was ordered to pay costs and will face a considerable 5 figure legal bill.
Whilst there are genuine and worthy claims where people are entitled to be compensated for injury, loss or damage sustained by negligence, there are plenty of spurious claims abounding. You need to ensure your Safety Management Systems are up to speed in order that you have some means to mitigate these claims and present a defence. Call us at Peninsula Business Services (Ireland) ltd for more details on 0818 923 923.
