Dunnes Stores Worker Compensated for Injury
Posted: June 26th, 2015
Dublin’s High Court have awarded an employee of Dunnes Stores an increase in compensation over the initial value approved by the Circuit Court.
The accident happened on the 6th June 2011 when Anthony Fitzsimons, aged twenty-five from Finglas, was lifting a stack of empty trays. The employee, who was working at a store in the Charlestown Shopping Centre, sustained an injury to his foot when the trays came crashing down.
The injury meant that Anthony was not able to return to work for the retailed for three and a half months after the incident. After seeking legal counsel, he made a claim for work injury compensation against his employers. In the claim, he alleges that the injury happened because there was only a few millimetres available to someone should they want to lift the trays once they were stacked.
However, Dunnes Stores denied any liability for Anthony’s injury. After he was issued with authorisation by the Injuries Board, Anthony brought his claim for compensation to the Circuit Court. There, he was awarded €8,035 for his injuries after the judge, who ruled that the accident could have been predicted, assigned his with a 50% contributory negligence.
However, this decision was appealed by Dunnes Stores, and the claim for work injury compensation proceeded to the High Court. Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns oversaw proceedings, and ruled to uphold the Circuit Court’s ruling. In his verdict, Judge Kearns commented that Anthony should have received more instruction from his employers concerning the number of crates that would have been safe for him to lift.
Judge Kearns also increased the value of the compensation settlement to €11,070, saying that because of the “nasty” injury inflicted to Anthony, it was appropriate he receive more compensation.
