The High Court assessed damages of €377,639.71 for a care attendant injured in a workplace accident, finding that her ongoing back pain was triggered by the accident and left her permanently unfit for work. The court said it would hear counsel on costs and final orders; the judgment does not record those final orders.
The assessment-only case concerned an accident at the Health Service Executive’s hospital on 10 January 2016, shortly after Geraldine Corless began work as a care attendant. Justice Bolger, in a judgment delivered on 10 November 2023, accepted that pre-existing degenerative changes had not caused her back problems before the accident. She found that the accident caused her continuing back pain, while her hip pain was linked to degeneration and resolved after a 2021 replacement.
Medical witnesses described ongoing pain and limits on walking, lifting and physical work. The court accepted that Corless was unable to work and had been certified permanently unfit by the HSE’s occupational health doctor. It found she had tried to return to light duties at the HSE but was told she could return only if fit for all the duties of her former role. The judge rejected the HSE’s argument that Corless had failed to mitigate her losses by not seeking alternative work.
The judgment also considered Corless’s involvement in an Irish dancing school established by her daughters. The judge found that she acted as a mentor and adviser, did not actively teach or receive income, and that this involvement did not contradict her unfitness for work. However, the court considered her failure to disclose it when describing the impact of her injuries relevant to the effect on her daily enjoyment of life.
The award included €301,639.71 for past and future earnings and pension losses, including court interest; €72,000 in general damages after a 20% reduction; and €4,000 in agreed special damages. The general damages assessment covered pain to date and into the future. The source gives no final order on costs.