No pain, no gain
Sometimes, when funds are low, I go for a little wander round the supermarkets. With nary a penny to my name, I don’t go there to check what deals are on offer or what succulent cut of meat I might have for the dinner. No, I go there to see if there’s any untended to spillages; a stagnant pool of Fanta in the minerals aisle, an exploded carton of milk by the fridges. Something slippery looking. Something unaccompanied by a sign warning what might happen should I take an unexpected tumble.
Nowadays though, there’s nearly always a sign, followed by a diligent member of staff with a mop. Most spillages are dealt with and cleared away before even the best opportunists can plan their own demise. How’s a chap meant to accidentally fall and do himself a mischief under these circumstances? How’s he meant to get a potentially life-threatening injury, and a much-needed cash injection, when there’s so many signs and mops about?
My problem is, I’m not creative enough. The whole supermarket thing has been done to death, they’ve cottoned on to it; Tesco is like a child’s playroom now, all soft edges and springy floors. Restaurants, that’s where it’s at. All those forks, knives, glasses, food, you’re putting your life at risk even walking in the door. But it’s the tables you have to look out for, they’re the real threat.
Last week a Dublin woman was awarded €20,000 damages for an incident at the Mullingar Park Hotel in Westmeath. Anette O’Connor was being escorted to her table by a manager when the table suddenly sprung to life and attacked her. In the ensuing melee several children were maimed, the hotel manager lost an eye and Ms O’Connor suffered an injury to her knee. The table was subsequently taken round back and shot.
But no, I jest, that’s not what really happened. Instead, Ms O’Connor banged her knee against the static, but no less malicious, table and immediately felt pain and shock. I banged my knee once, and let me tell you, it’s no joke, so I can empathise with Anette’s plight. That she managed to not only order her meal, but also eat it, is a testament to both her courage and her bravery. However, upon retiring to her room and reflecting upon her evening, the doughty Dubliner called for further assistance; receiving an ice-pack for her stricken knee and a little drink to settle her frayed nerves.
When she returned home, Anette visited first her local doctor, then the Beaumont Hospital for an X-Ray, and finally a specialist who deals in muscle spasms. A detailed assessment of her injury has not been made available, but suffice to say this bump to the knee has disrupted her life, both professionally and personally.
Seriously, when is this going to stop? When are these people going to be exposed for what they are and reprimanded for wasting the court’s time?
Perhaps Anette O’Connor’s knee was badly injured, and perhaps it did lead to a loss of income. But the table would have had to be made of Kryptonite for it to injure her quite that badly. It would need to have landed upon her leg from a great height and with great force, not bump against her as she took her seat for an evening meal. It’s not difficult to join up the dots here, to surmise how this escalated from what appears to have been a trivial accident, into something worthy of a court case and a quite generous pay out.
Just a few weeks ago we rejoiced at the High Court ruling which overturned the decision to award Teresa Wall, a hillwalker from Dublin, €40,000 damages for an injury sustained while out walking on the Wicklow Way. In that instance the judge ruled that there was a “high degree of negligence” on Mrs Wall’s part, or, to be more blunt; it was her own fault and she should have watched where she was going.
But now, after a brief dalliance with common sense, we’re right back in the madhouse, where bumps, grazes, cuts and bruises are worth five figure sums to the claimant, and an increase in insurance for everyone else. Because that’s what galls the most. We could almost muster a smidgen of respect for these messers, admire their sheer chutzpah, were it not for the knock-on effect.
For each and every action, there must always be an equal and opposite reaction. In this instance, the reaction is an increase in insurance, right across the board. Cases like Anette O’Connor’s will mean a rise in the cost of commercial insurance for all restaurants, all hotels, retailers, big and small. In the grand scheme of things, the €20,000 Ms O’Connor received for her troubles isn’t a lot of money. But when similar sums are awarded in courts every day of the week, right across the country, and when it comes from the coffers of the company insuring your business, coffers which you helped to fill, then everyone suffers.
And it’s not just the commercial industry being hit by this form of modern-day fraud, motor insurance is affected too. All those little prangs, those tips and taps, which lead to whiplash, back pain and other capricious ailments, are, slowly but surely, adding up, ensuring that the people most affected by our claim culture are the ordinary, decent folk, the type of people who would flush red at the prospect of suing for damages even if the odds were overwhelmingly in their favour.
We could point the finger of blame at our judges, ask them what the hell they’re thinking in rewarding these blackguards and simultaneously encouraging others to follow suit. But those passing down judgement and awarding these ludicrous sums are only following procedure. Where possible, Irish judges will not only rule against the allegedly injured party but condemn them for their actions, giving them the public shaming they so richly deserve.
But in an instance like Anette O’Connor’s, where it was argued that hotel staff were culpable as the leg of the table was obscured by a tablecloth, there is little a judge can do but rule in her favour. Having done that, he or she is left with no option but to award a sum of money in keeping with the going rate. And that’s where the problem lies: in Ireland the ‘going rate’ is vastly out of sync with the rest of Europe. The figures given to injured parties in this country are often three times, four times, that which claimants receive in the UK, in Germany, in any major European country.
With such incentives on offer is it any wonder we’re all falling over ourselves (literally) to put in a claim, any claim?
Measures have been, and are currently being, taken to address this issue: The Book of Quantum, which provides guidelines on how much money should be granted for personal injury claims, was recently updated for the first time in twelve years. In addition, the creation of the Court of Appeal has helped to speed up what was once a laborious process, enabling defendants to swiftly challenge judgements and, in many instances, see them overturned.
Is it enough though? Will this tightening of legislation dissuade have-a-go heroes from having a go? Only time will tell.
In the meantime I’m off out for a meal at my local restaurant. Wish me luck.
Sticks and stones
If €20,000 is the going rate for a banged-up knee, what do you get for being called a “f***ing skankhole”? Unfortunately, for Roxana Pach of Lucan in Dublin, the answer is nothing.
During an altercation with a Dublin Bus driver, Ms Pach alleged that said driver referred to her as a “f***ing skank” and a “f***ing skankhole”. Nasty stuff. She subsequently filed for damages totalling €75,000 on the grounds of defamation of character.
The judge, despite recognising that the driver had indeed used those derogatory terms, ruled against Ms Pach, stating that the driver was merely reprimanding his passenger and not making any aspersions as to the content of her character.
Any man referring to a woman in those terms in a public setting, and especially a man in a position of authority, needs to take a good look at himself. Calling members of the opposite sex offensive names is something best left in the playground.
But without proper hate-crime legislation in this country we are all pretty much free to call one another whatever we like. This is yet another area where we lag behind our European counterparts, being one of the last EU member states without effective hate crime regulations.
Implementing it may see more cases like this appearing before our judges, but in future it might be the driver on trial rather than Ms Pach.
