Nurse hit by fallen Weetabix boxes gets awarded €135,000

skinny90

And no that is not a typo on the amount... I guess there really is a lot of iron in Weetabix :rolleyes::pac:
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/high-court/nurse-hit-by-falling-weetabix-boxes-awarded-135-000-1.2115934

The_Valeyard

Tesco you say, i think im out of cereal......

wretcheddomain

I think she was entitled to it under the Special K clause of some act.

jacksie66

This post has been deleted.

The Gibzilla

Cereal Killers are getting away so easily these days...

eeguy

6+ years of pain for 135k.

I think I'd prefer my health...

M.T. Cranium

She is lucky not to have gone Cheerio.

J. Marston

A medical examination carried out in August 2013 confirmed Ms Butler was suffering from dizziness and residual shoulder pain. Six years after the incident, she still had difficulties at work as well as trouble sleeping, the court heard.

She owes that medical examiner a few quid.

ratmouse

Only for the fact that it was reported in the Irish Times, I probably would have thought that there wasn't a grain of truth to that story!

dickwod1

Them Weetabix must have had their Weetabix

hfallada

Im totally against a claims culture nation. But this case seems genuine. She worked before the injury and after it. She even changed her hours and switched shifts. She tried to get her injuries sorted and 6 years later still has failed. This women seems like an individual who is entitled to compensation.

She is not some scumbag, who hasnt worked a day in their life and broke their ankle(now totally recovered), while **** faced at a nightclub. This women deserves something

MarkAnthony

sully2010 wrote: »

The Americanization of Ireland continues at paste.

Punitive damages in Ireland are very, very rare which is what leads to their huge judgements; class actions do not exist here. But if you mean people talking about stuff they've no idea about I guess you're right.

Oh not to mention jury trials in civil matters were done away with at the behest of the insurance lobby.

ballsymchugh

i hope she wasn't covered for the friggin reiki.

Baby Jane

"See this smudge here that looks like my fingerprint? That's trauma!"

jamesbere

sugarman wrote: »

'She has trouble sleeping at night' ...what, is she having constant nightmares of being showered in boxes of wheeatabix?!?

...I'm sure the €135k has made it easier

She probably couldn't sleep because the ringing in her ear went snap crackle and pop

_Whimsical_

I was hit on the head by a falling pyramid display of USA boxes of biscuits in Tesco a few years ago and all I got for my trouble was bruising and a bump on the head that lasted through Christmas.
I wince to imagine the fortune I might have been showered with if I'd been more litigious minded. Wish I had been now.

Calibos

hfallada wrote: »

Im totally against a claims culture nation. But this case seems genuine. She worked before the injury and after it. She even changed her hours and switched shifts. She tried to get her injuries sorted and 6 years later still has failed. This women seems like an individual who is entitled to compensation.

She is not some scumbag, who hasnt worked a day in their life and broke their ankle(now totally recovered), while **** faced at a nightclub. This women deserves something

She tried to get her injuries sorted with Reiki and Acupuncture.....

In other words, she didn't try to get her injuries sorted. :rolleyes:

"Judge, I couldn't have known that taking a box of weetabix from the bottom of the stack would make the ones above fall and I've done my best to try and resolve my known to be hard to diagnose soft tissue injury by getting a dopey hippy young one to wave her hands over me while playing dolphin sounds through speakers and even got a chinaman to stick some drawing pins in me"

"Oh you poor thing, heres €135,000 euro"

GIVE....ME.... STRENGTH !!!! :mad: :rolleyes: :mad: :rolleyes:

conorh91

The Irish Times is scraping the journalistic barrel on this one.

What does it matter which logo was on the containers that hit the woman?

If I am injured in a collision with a van delivering female-hygiene prodcts, is that a legitimate basis for ridiculous headline in the paper of record?

Taking a personal injuries action can be a nasty and upsetting experience, in which very private aspects of a plaintiff's private life can be scrutinized. What's more, the courts are directed to be skeptical.

The Civil Liability & Courts Act 2004 and the institution of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board further entrench this skepticism, and have prevented a 'compo culture' from occurring. In fact, these measures have undoubtedly held-back some well-merited litigation.

There have been situations where cases taken by people who suffered serious injury were dismissed, even though liability was admitted by a defendant, simply because the plaintiff claimed for too much in damages. It seems draconian at times.

This is a busy forum. I bet there have plenty of posters who have been through it, and would identify with that how awful an experience it can be.

I really think the Irish Times needs to have a word with the journalist who wrote this piece, or whoever was responsible for that ridiculous headline. Tabloid-style journalism is what it is.

MarkAnthony

Calibos wrote: »

She tried to get her injuries sorted with Reiki and Acupuncture.....

In other words, she didn't try to get her injuries sorted. :rolleyes:

"Judge, I couldn't have known that taking a box of weetabix from the bottom of the stack would make the ones above fall and I've done my best to try and resolve my known to be hard to diagnose soft tissue injury by getting a dopey hippy young one to wave her hands over me while playing dolphin sounds through speakers and even got a chinaman to stick some drawing pins in me"

"Oh you poor thing, heres €135,000 euro"

GIVE....ME.... STRENGTH !!!! :mad: :rolleyes: :mad: :rolleyes:

Yet another person that's never sat through even 10 minutes of the other side cross examining the victim in these cases. Defence barristers can and do reduce people to tears.

They're also not fools in properly testing the medical evidence submitted.

eeguy

conorh91 wrote: »

The Civil Liability & Courts Act 2004 and the institution of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board further entrench this skepticism, and have prevented a 'compo culture' from occurring. In fact, these measures have undoubtedly held-back some well-merited litigation.

There have been situations where cases taken by people who suffered serious injury were dismissed, even where liability was admitted by a defendant, simply because the plaintiff claimed for too much in damages. It seems draconian at times.

Any examples of that?

Sounds interesting.

AndonHandon

conorh91 wrote: »

The Irish Times is scraping the journalistic barrel on this one.

What does it matter which logo was on the containers that hit the woman?

If I am injured in a collision with a van delivering female-hygiene prodcts, is that a legitimate basis for ridiculous headline in the paper of record?

Taking a personal injuries action can be a nasty and upsetting experience, in which very private aspects of a plaintiff's private life can be scrutinized. What's more, the courts are directed to be skeptical.

The Civil Liability & Courts Act 2004 and the institution of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board further entrench this skepticism, and have prevented a 'compo culture' from occurring. In fact, these measures have undoubtedly held-back some well-merited litigation.

There have been situations where cases taken by people who suffered serious injury were dismissed, even though liability was admitted by a defendant, simply because the plaintiff claimed for too much in damages. It seems draconian at times.

This is a busy forum. I bet there have plenty of posters who have been through it, and would identify with that how awful an experience it can be.

I really think the Irish Times needs to have a word with the journalist who wrote this piece, or whoever was responsible for that ridiculous headline. Tabloid-style journalism is what it is.

From a defence perspective I am incapable of empathising with those taking a P.I. case and am always sceptical.

eternal

I'd live for a year in a box of Weetabix no problem if someone wants to compensate me for discomfort. Cereal not included.

MarkAnthony

eternal wrote: »

I'd live for a year in a box of Weetabix no problem if someone wants to compensate me for discomfort. Cereal not included.

Like sex on the beach, good in theory then it starts to chafe.

eternal

MarkAnthony wrote: »

Like sex on the beach, good in theory then it starts to chafe.

I always enjoyed sex on the beach. Anyway you could buy plenty of lotion to sooth your chafing afterwards. Skin graft even if you're a perfectionist.

catallus

I like coco-pops.

WoollyRedHat

the_syco

I can't figure out how the box leapt on top of her?

MarkAnthony

Looking at the photo credit, there's a man who should sue his parents.

Baby Jane

I like that the photo is a lone box of Weetabix, just so we can be sure.
Without that, we might dangerously assume it was one of those own-brand knock-offs.

conorh91

eeguy wrote: »

Any examples of that?

Sounds interesting.

Carmello v Casey [2007] IEHC 362

Carmello was in a car being driven by Casey, when he lost control of the vehicle at a bend going 80mph, hit a ditch, rolled over, and caused serious injury to Carmello, which included a life-long loss of sensation around the head.

Carmello sought to recover damages from Casey, who admitted liability. Some time later, Carmello was struck in the face by the branch of a tree, and required minor hospital attention. In his reply to particulars three years later, Carmello forgot to mention the incident with the branch of the tree.

Notwithstanding the fact that liability had been admitted, the entire case was dismissed. The Court assessed damages at 50,000 euro, but made no award in light of the failure of the plaintiff to mention the minor incident with the tree.

s.26 Civil Liability and Courts Act, 2004

MarkAnthony

My fave from childhood.

eternal

There is no way you'd have that much damage to warrant that kind of money. Car accident victims don't get near that even after serious collisions.

Patty O Furniture

hfallada wrote: »

Im totally against a claims culture nation. But this case seems genuine. She worked before the injury and after it. She even changed her hours and switched shifts. She tried to get her injuries sorted and 6 years later still has failed. This women seems like an individual who is entitled to compensation.

She is not some scumbag, who hasnt worked a day in their life and broke their ankle(now totally recovered), while **** faced at a nightclub. This women deserves something

Too right

Mr Justice McDermott said there was no evidence to indicate that Ms Butler would fully recover from her injuries and it was "a tribute to her that she did not exaggerate her injuries and has taken every step to ensure that she could stay at work”.

Trust the week i start eating porridge :rolleyes:

MarkAnthony

eternal wrote: »

There is no way you'd have that much damage to warrant that kind of money. Car accident victims don't get near that even after serious collisions.

These figure aren't pulled out of the Judge's arse, they are worked out on the basis of medical expenses, lost wages etc.

WoollyRedHat

MarkAnthony wrote: »

My fave from childhood.

The voiceover is an almost threatening unnerving one.

As if to say, if you haven't eaten, you'll get Weetabeaten.

ETA: Wait that's the whole point of the ad isn't it!

Baby Jane

Patty O Furniture wrote: »

Trust the week i start eating porridge :rolleyes:

There is hope - a bunch of porridge packages landing on you would give you a right clobbering!

eternal

MarkAnthony wrote: »

These figure aren't pulled out of the Judge's arse, they are worked out on the basis of medical expenses, lost wages etc.

But is she like paying you to stand up for her or something. The article says she was able to manage shifts so it's not like she can't work at all. I have been in car accidents and there is no way the therapy would go to that amount. I probably have more damage to myself than she does seriously like.

Baby Jane

MarkAnthony wrote: »

Yet another person that's never sat through even 10 minutes of the other side cross examining the victim in these cases. Defence barristers can and do reduce people to tears.

They're also not fools in properly testing the medical evidence submitted.

Go away with your legal knowledge and experience of courts and let us be the judges!
Also, something something woman with hot coffee from McDonalds.

sabat

I find it hard to believe that even the heaviest box of weetabix (900g) falling from the highest shelf in Tesco could generate enough momentum by the time it reached her shoulder to cause the type of damage she's claiming. It's fortunate she's a medical professional so she was able to give such comprehensive, accurate and technical description of her suffering...

MarkAnthony

eternal wrote: »

But is she like paying you to stand up for her or something. The article says she was able to manage shifts so it's not like she can't work at all. I have been in car accidents and there is no way the therapy would go to that amount. I probably have more damage to myself than she does seriously like.

Lets take a couple of paragraphs in a rag, over trial played out over several days. Lets take some jurno scoring a few cheap laughs over a very well funded, professional and no doubt skilled legal team arguing for the defence.

MarkAnthony

Baby Jane wrote: »

Go away with your legal knowledge and experience of courts and let us be the judges!
Also, something something woman with hot coffee from McDonalds.

My favourite one (although it may have been made up) was the woman falling over a child in a department store and recovering damages; her own child I hasten to add.

eternal

MarkAnthony wrote: »

Lets take a couple of paragraphs in a rag, over trial played out over several days. Lets take some jurno scoring a few cheap laughs over a very well funded, professional and no doubt skilled legal team arguing for the defence.

Well I want a piece of her legal team. Momma needs new shoes.

MarkAnthony

eternal wrote: »

Well I want a piece of her legal team. Momma needs new shoes.

Better Call Saul

Patty O Furniture

Baby Jane wrote: »

There is hope - a bunch of porridge packages landing on you would give you a right clobbering!

I'm gonna keep a closer eye out for the Jumbo Oats in Lidl, although knowing my luck, they'll break my fall :P

eternal

Baby Jane wrote: »

There is hope - a bunch of porridge packages landing on you would give you a right clobbering!

Lucky it wasn't a tin of beans or she could have been permanently brain damaged.

WoollyRedHat

Baby Jane wrote: »

Go away with your legal knowledge and experience of courts and let us be the judges!
Also, something something woman with hot coffee from McDonalds.

I remember reading about the hot coffee story, happened in America if I'm not wrong. The burns she suffered were quite nasty and it wasn't just a simple case of it being "quite hot" but indeed scalding, which led to third degree burns.

Baby Jane

Patty O Furniture wrote: »

I'm gonna keep a closer eye out for the Jumbo Oats in Lidl, although knowing my luck, they'll break my fall :P

They've them fecking feather-light cylindrical boxes of porridge oats now too, probably no use. :mad:

Baby Jane

WoollyRedHat wrote: »

I remember reading about the hot coffee story, happened in America if I'm not wrong. The burns she suffered were quite nasty and it wasn't just a simple case of it being "quite hot" but indeed scalding, which led to third degree burns.

Oh I know. It's just that it tends to be brought up as an example of compensation culture gone mad when "Woman burnt herself with coffee that she knew was hot" doesn't tell anywhere near the full story.

eternal

There was a woman in Dunnes awarded 5 grand for slipping on a grape. She was very grapeful.



True story.

YFlyer

Baby Jane wrote: »

There is hope - a bunch of porridge packages landing on you would give you a right clobbering!

Or at least he get his oats.

Patty O Furniture

Baby Jane wrote: »

They've them fecking feather-light cylindrical boxes of porridge oats now too, probably no use. :mad:

Nah, they're usually sold out