A District Court judge has halved an award of compensation for a tooth injury caused by eating airport food to account for his own contributory negligence.
In March 2013, thirty-two year old Shane McQuillan from Swords in County Dublin purchased the ingredients for a sausage and bacon sandwich from the Gate Clock Bar at Dublin Airport; but, as he bit into the sandwich, he fractured his upper right back molar on a tough piece of bacon rind.
Alleging that his injury was attributable to the rasher of bacon having been left on display for hours – causing the rind on it to solidify – Shane claimed compensation for a tooth injury caused by eating airport food. The bar denied responsibility for his injury, and the Injuries Board issued Shane with an authorisation to pursue his claim for compensation through the court system.
Last week at the District Court in Swords, Judge Patricia McNamara was told Shane believed the food at the bar had been left out for a number of hours on a steel tray placed on top of a pan of steaming water. The judge also heard that Shane still suffers occasional pain from the fractured tooth and cannot drink cold drinks.
The manager of the Gate Clock Bar testified that the food is changed every ninety minutes, but she could not produce records to support her claim. It was also alleged that Shane should be considered responsible for his own injuries because he continued to create and eat his sandwich when he believed the rasher of bacon to be stale.
As records could not be produced to support the restaurant manager´s claim that the food was changed every ninety minutes, Judge McNamara found in Shane´s favour. Initially she awarded Shane €6,500 in general damages for his pain and suffering, and €2,500 in special damages, but then commented that Shane “should have been careful of a crispy rasher rind” and assigned him 50 percent contributory negligence – reducing the award of compensation for a tooth injury caused by eating airport food to €4,500.