A man who lost his senses of taste and smell after a farm accident has resolved his injury compensation claim for a fall in a barn at a hearing at the High Court.
On August 11th 2008, Con Oxley from Cullahill in County Laois was installing light fittings at a barn in nearby Ballacolla owned by farmer Mark Quigley. In preparation to install the lights, Con was rolling out electric cable and intending to use a plank suspended across two boxes to negotiate his way from fitting to fitting.
However, when Con stepped on the plank to move from the first fitting to the second, it gave way. Con fell eight feet onto the floor of the barn – hitting his head badly as he landed. As a result of his fall, Con has lost his senses of taste and smell and has been left with poor vision in his left eye.
Con made an injury compensation claim for a fall in a barn against Mark Quigley – alleging that the planks he had been provided with were unsuitable for the job and that the one he had stepped on had a crack in it. He also claimed that was a failure to provide intermediate support under the planks so that they were safe to walk on.
Quigley denied his alleged liability for Con´s injuries and the Injuries Board issued Con with an authorisation to pursue his claim through the courts. However, before a court date could be set, the two men negotiated a settlement to Con´s injury compensation claim for a fall in a barn – with Con accepting €300,000 compensation without an admission of liability from Quigley.
At the High Court, Mr Justice Kevin Cross approved the settlement after hearing that the €300,000 settlement was approximately half of what Con may have been awarded had his injury compensation claim for a fall in a barn gone to a full hearing. Judge Cross said that the settlement was a wise option as Con´s contributory negligence for failing to inspect the planks would have been called into question.