Cut Thumb = €500,000

Gatling

A judge awarded a former waitress €500,000 in court today after she cut her thumb quite bad after a jug she was using broke in her hand .judge claimed it was a life changing injury and decided to award her the following.

€195,000 in special damages.  It will go towards  €13,000 for an automatic car; €1,000 a year for a weekly €20 wash and blow dry at the hairdressers, and €39 every three months for hair colouring and €2000 per annum for home help .

Now this girl suffered a deep cut yeah that true but life changing and the need for an automatic car and home help is rediculous she cut her thumb not suffered limb amputations .

Surely been the gear stick on irish cars is on the left it it negates the need for an automatic car been it's her right thumb is injured .

Where's do judges come to the cost decisions in these cases.

http://m.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/waitress-awarded-500000-for-hand-injury-suffered-after-glass-jug-shattered-34610957.html

GiftofGab

Any source?

Hasmunch

Source

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

The Irish Times had it over the weekend. In fairness she has lost power and a lot of use in the hand as a result. I'm sure if the OP were in a similar situation they'd just shrug it off, man up, and carry on regardless.

Gatling

GiftofGab wrote: »

Any source?

Added

Gatling

Karina Whispering Logo wrote: »

The Irish Times had it over the weekend. In fairness she has lost power and a lot of use in the hand as a result.

Highly doubt that .

There's been real life changing injuries and not got half that payment

frozenfrozen

Looks like a complaint was made that something similar had happened before and nothing was done -- it may be excessive but the payout might scare people into taking complaints like that seriously.

Losing the full use of a hand would definitely lead to a loss of income and reduced standard of living. The payout sounds big but we don't know how bad it is and it could have been avoided if the previous complaints were taken on board. It was negligence on their part

Maximus Alexander

Gatling wrote: »

Where's do judges come to the cost decisions in these cases.

I'm not sure, but I reckon they probably have more to work off than an Independent article.

smash

Gatling wrote: »

Now this girl suffered a deep cut yeah that true but life changing and the need for an automatic car and home help is rediculous she cut her thumb not suffered limb amputations.

"She claimed she has been left with a loss of strength in her right hand and could not resume work as a waitress."

Maybe she never got the strength back?

Tombo2001

You can put in all the 'ifs' and 'buts' you want; it seems an unbelievably high pay out.

Gatling

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

I'm not sure, but I reckon they probably have more to work off than an Independent article.

Yeah the use the book of quantum a widely used but widely recognised as been a few years out of date to calculate claims

Guy:Incognito

Karina Whispering Logo wrote: »

The Irish Times had it over the weekend. In fairness she has lost power and a lot of use in the hand as a result. I'm sure if the OP were in a similar situation they'd just shrug it off, man up, and carry on regardless.

Ive lost the use of my little finger on my left hand. Youd be surprised how much grip strength you lose by not using it. It happenend playing football and the operation fused the joint in a way that its semi bent so not sticking straight out all the way when i bend my other fingers. Shortly after i went back playing rugby, it caught in a guys jersey as he was going by and snapped near the knuckle. So another operation. That was 5 years ago.


Now i tape it to the finger beside it when i play rugby and ive moved on.......

fatknacker

I wouldn't be opposing those digits, myself.

Gatling

Gatling wrote: »

€195,000 in special damages.  It will go towards  €13,000 for an automatic car; €1,000 a year for a weekly €20 wash and blow dry at the hairdressers, and €39 every three months for hair colouring and €2000 per annum for home help .

Now this girl suffered a deep cut yeah that true but life changing and the need for an automatic car and home help is rediculous she cut her thumb not suffered limb amputations .

Surely been the gear stick on irish cars is on the left it it negates the need for an automatic car been it's her right thumb is injured .

She was working as a waitress and has lost most of the power in her hand, so that's her livelihood compromised. She's been rightly compensated for lost earnings.

She's French, so the point about the gears on an Irish car isn't going to apply in France. She's had her new transport needs provided for, rightly.

Complaints were made about the same issue, the company did nothing. Punitive damages were in order. Rightly, for all workers safety.

A loss of strength means that her ability to carry out normal household tasks would be affected. She's been awarded money to help bridge the gap between what needs to be done and what she can now do after a life changing injury. Rightly.

So the injury means she can't live her life the way she used to, but the slant is she's gotten a fortune for a cut to her thumb. Classy.

AtomicHorror

Gatling wrote: »

Yeah the use the book of quantum a widely used but widely recognised as been a few years out of date to calculate claims

I'm having a lot of trouble parsing this sentence.

I think the point still stands anyway- the judge had a lot more detail to base the payout on than we have. Not sure I really see the point in expressing any outrage at this. Someone was injured. The responsible party were identified. Costs were awarded in line with the judges assessment of the severity of the injuries and their broader consequences.

If we don't consider that to be valid then what are judges for, exactly?

ScumLord

I can understand her hand may be fecked now and that deserves a payout. I don't understand why the judge is giving her money for hairdressing? It seems bizarre to give a judgement for something like that?

Arsemageddon

AtomicHorror wrote: »

If we don't consider that to be valid then what are judges for, exactly?

Obviously a judges most important role is to keep us supplied with fresh 'this country is a joke' type threads based on misleading stories from the Indo.

AtomicHorror

Arsemageddon wrote: »

Obviously a judges most important role is to keep us supplied with fresh 'this country is a joke' type threads based on misleading stories from the Indo.

I'd love to be a professional outrage generator too.

ScumLord

ScumLord wrote: »

I can understand her hand may be fecked now and that deserves a payout. I don't understand why the judge is giving her money for hairdressing? It seems bizarre to give a judgement for something like that?

Someone's not a girl!!!

You can't do your own hair if your hand doesn't work properly

frozenfrozen

ScumLord wrote: »

I can understand her hand may be fecked now and that deserves a payout. I don't understand why the judge is giving her money for hairdressing? It seems bizarre to give a judgement for something like that?

her hand might be really in bits and she wouldn't be able to wash her hair etc herself. Could be a serious thing, maybe she had lovely hair that has gone to **** in the meantime because of the stress and not having the use of her hand. Wouldn't be too out of this world for something like that to be the case

AtomicHorror

bubblypop wrote: »

Someone's not a girl!!!

You can't do your own hair if your hand doesn't work properly

That's a fair point. Most guys losing the use of one hand could get by with a Remington taped to a selfie stick.

seamus

The standard payouts for injuries don't cover medical bills, loss of earnings or other ongoing costs.

By all accounts, she's functionally lost the use of her right hand, which is going to have life-long implications.

Someone who loses a hand doesn't "just" get a five-figure payout, they'll get a pile of other costs too. Circumstances are important too - a premier league footballer losing a leg will get a way bigger payout than a computer programmer. If she hasn't been able to work in nine years because of this injury, it stands to reason she's going to have difficulty making an income for the rest of her life. Why shouldn't she be compensated?

AnonoBoy

Thread title is massively misleading.

This is not just a cut.

I know if I lost strength in one of my hands I'd be unable to do my job properly. If it was my employer's fault then you better believe I'd come looking for damages.

I have thousands of mouths to feed.

Granted I could sell that ant farm but still I would be unable to earn a living.

osarusan

170,000 for pain and suffering.

135,000 for loss of earnings.

195,000 in special damages - to cover costs such as a new car, home help, and other things.

Engineering evidence on behalf of Ms Caillaud found a number of broken jugs, which were examined, were not suitable for catering use as they contained an unusually thick handle. The joint with the thin glass of the jug was liable to be fragile and unsafe if subjected to rapid heating and cooling such as prolonged dishwasher use in the catering trade, he said.

No engineering evidence was offered by the other side, he noted.

He found hotel management were or ought to have been aware of the complaints about breakages and ought to have been put on alert and removed the jugs as unsuitable.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/high-court/waitress-who-hurt-hand-when-jug-exploded-awarded-500-000-1.2603481

ScumLord

frozenfrozen wrote: »

her hand might be really in bits and she wouldn't be able to wash her hair etc herself. Could be a serious thing, maybe she had lovely hair that has gone to **** in the meantime because of the stress and not having the use of her hand. Wouldn't be too out of this world for something like that to be the case

Still seems odd thing to highlight and to have considered. I suppose these court cases take so long she had time to live through the injury and get a good idea of what her needs would be.

Agent Smith

The Judge made the judgement in fairness....

HensVassal

Regarding the car....her right hand is damaged. That means she can't use her right hand on the steering wheel. She will have to engage the automatic gear with her left hand and then steer with her left hand.

Gatling

HensVassal wrote: »

Regarding the car....her right hand is damaged. That means she can't use her right hand on the steering wheel. She will have to engage the automatic gear with her left hand and then steer with her left hand.

See someone else gets the car thing

screamer

HensVassal wrote: »

Regarding the car....her right hand is damaged. That means she can't use her right hand on the steering wheel. She will have to engage the automatic gear with her left hand and then steer with her left hand.

Should she be driving at all one handed?

frozenfrozen

screamer wrote: »

Should she be driving at all one handed?

Why not if it's automatic?

martyos121

screamer wrote: »

Should she be driving at all one handed?

Absolutely not. She's a danger to other road users. That part of the settlement is baffling, she's in no state to operate a vehicle of any sort.