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A 69-YEAR-OLD business woman, who suffered a triple fracture of her left ankle after she slipped and fell in the Herbert Park Hotel in Ballsbridge, Dublin has been awarded €56,250 damages in the Circuit Civil Court.
Circuit Court President Mr Justice Raymond Groarke said he was satisfied the entrance hotel floor had been impeccable and maintained to the highest standard, but Delia Manning should not have been allowed to enter the hotel through the emergency exit doors without a mat.
Judge Groarke said engineering evidence showed the floor became slippery when moisture was carried under people’s shoes. He said there was no mat at the emergency doors to trap any potential moisture.
“It was an accident waiting to happen,” the judge said.
Manning, of Assumption Terrace, Kinsale, Co Cork, told the court that she had stayed at the hotel with her son and grandson in August 2014 to attend the RDS Horse Show.
She said the last day of the show, August 10, was a wet day and the show ended early. They had decided to go home and had been leaving the hotel car park but the barrier would not lift. She had gone back to the hotel to check that the ticket had been validated when she slipped and fell forward.
Manning told her barrister, Eamon Shanahan, that she felt pain in her ankle. She had been attended to by hotel staff before being taken by ambulance to St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin, where x-rays revealed a fracture in her ankle.
She said she underwent surgery and had needed to wear a plaster cast for several weeks. The court heard she was no longer able to walk long distances and she may develop arthritis in the future.
She sued Hebert Park Hotel Limited, which trades as Herbert Park Hotel, and Sheelin McSharry (Ballsbridge) Limited, of Embassy House, Herbert Park Lane, Ballsbridge, for negligence.
The defendants had denied liability and had alleged that Manning had used the emergency doors because the main entrance was crowded with a group of tourists and she had been rushing when she slipped.
Judge Groarke said he accepted that Manning, who suffered a “very nasty and extremely serious” injury, may have been distracted. Initially awarding her €75,000 damages, he reduced her award by 25% for contributory negligence.
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Brillant, let’s summarise some of 2016 big insurance payouts, dozen of toddlers with some tiny injuries to their heads and fingers (I’d be millionaire now if they paid me for that when I was kid), then some people tripping while hiking the hills (extraordinary thing to happen who would have known…), then some people tripping on the birds shyte while serving customers at Heuston (sue these pigeons right away), then someone else tripping over wet supermarket floors (unheard of near the freezers) and now this gem to end the year, missing mat caused massive catastrophe worth 55K. Great work guys, so when is my car or house premium going up again so you can recuperate your loss?
@Tomasz Kuchnik: Not to mention the Garda who was so traumatised by seeing an actual crime taking place!
Well done Judge Groarke. You must love your job
@Mary Murphy: a quick search on here shows a huge amount in compo given out by this specific Judge this year. http://www.thejournal.ie/search/Groarke/ #mindblowing
I fell into some money.
@Hugh Mannatee: fell forward with wet shoes on a shiny floor, how the hell did that happen?
This is totally her own fault for using an emergency exit in the first place because “tourists” (god forbid you find a few in a hotel) were delaying her entry?! Ridiculous. These claimers must not suffer an iota of embarrassment at how greedy they are because as far as I’m concerned naming these claimants and addresses is naming and shaming. Sickening! And shame on the judge.
€56K will probably cover her parking and Wifi costs in that rip off hotel.
I was involved in a claim very recently, my medical bills had reached over €10K it only turned into a claim because the body at fault had refused to cover my medical costs via their insurance, when we met at the courts I asked for my medical bills and an apology. They refused ended paying a lot more including my legal bills and being found 100% negligent.
What’s this ? CSI Bollo* ! It was an emergency exit ??? Not Entrance !!
Moisture madness, never step on anything other than a mat on a wet day.
Normally there’s a bit in there about the injured party not being in a position to attend bridge classes or something in future due to their ‘disability’. Will this lady be with the rest of the horsey set in the RDS next Summer I wonder. These claims are becoming more comical by the week.
A clear case of negligence on the part of the hotel resulting in a tripe fracture, a severe and problematic injury.
The award was fully justified.
‘triple’
(no need to go about it)
@Alex Falcone:go ‘on’ about it.
@Alex Falcone she caused it herself. Should have lost and had costs awarded against herself. Pure sick of that bloody judge giving away money like that
The people who complain about the size of some of these “awards” have clearly never seen a hospital bill.
Is it not €100?
Nope it’s not especially if you get admitted. I needed MRI injections €389 each x6 over 8 months, then I have €4,500 worth of physio over 3 years, €185 for consultant first visit and €85 every visit thereafter. I could go on but I won’t. My health insurance wouldn’t cover it because they consider my injury to be somebody else’s fault and I then had to issue proceedings against them or my .
Ballsup Hotel
There won’t be a bother on her when she gets the money
Think I ‘Better call Saul’, next time I accidentally slip on ice outside a public building. €12k minimum payout even before it goes to court!
People don’t understand that if you have an injury caused by the fault of somebody or what could be perceived as the fault of somebody else your health insurance won’t cover the costs and will peruse you for anything they may have paid out.
@Mercurial One: is that the garda that saw a prisoner eat his own shite?
No mention of what the woman’s legal costs were in the case! Most likely more, but that’s an embarrassing shadow headline which will not be published. Name the Solicitor and Counsel !
I slipped on a banana skin last week. I wonder…
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