The High Court awarded Waldemar Szczypior €71,000 in damages for a right hand and wrist injury sustained while working in a warehouse operated by Daly Transport Limited in Castleisland, Co Kerry.
Mr Justice Cian Ferriter found that the company had failed to provide a safe system of work. He ruled that the cramped space between pallets left Mr Szczypior without room to position himself safely while moving boxes, and that the employer had not provided manual handling training. He found no contributory negligence on the worker’s part.
The accident happened on 10 January 2017 as Mr Szczypior was labelling boxes of cheese. He told the court that the warehouse was crowded and that he was under pressure to complete the task quickly. While lifting a box, he fell sideways and his left foot became trapped beneath a pallet; he injured his right hand and wrist in the fall.
The judge accepted Mr Szczypior’s account of the accident and its aftermath as credible. He found that the employer had not adequately refuted his account that he was given no work from early March 2018 and later discovered that his employment had been terminated on 20 April 2018, after his solicitors sent a letter of claim. The judgment records that the employer disputed parts of his account.
The company applied under section 26 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 to have the action dismissed, arguing that surveillance footage showed Mr Szczypior had materially misled medical experts about his ongoing symptoms. The judge rejected the application. He found that the footage did not establish that the accounts of intermittent pain and limitations, particularly with gripping, were materially misleading or fraudulent. He also found the company had not proved that Mr Szczypior knowingly gave false or misleading evidence. The application’s rejection left the personal injury claim to be decided; the court did not award aggravated damages.
The judge assessed general damages at €37,500 for pain and suffering to the date of judgment and €7,500 for future pain and suffering. He accepted €26,000 in special damages, comprising €24,525 for loss of earnings and just under €1,600 in other vouched expenses. The total award was €71,000.