€65,000 award for restaurant burns

A WAITRESS who suffered severe burns to her leg after her clothing caught fire while working in a restaurant has secured more than €65,000 in damages at the High Court.

Mr Justice Vivian Lavan awarded Saara Kalliokoski, 26, e65,300 after being told the flammable material used to keep food warm caught fire on her trousers while she was working at Adare Manor Hotel, Co Limerick.

Ms Kalliokoski, from Finland, with an address at Milford Grange, Castletroy, Limerick, had brought an action for damages against Adare Hotel Ltd, trading as Adare Manor, arising out of an accident that occurred while she was working in the Manor’s Carriagehouse Restaurant on June 5, 2005.

The case was before the High Court for assessment only, as liability was not an issue.

Dominick Hussey SC, for Ms Kalliokoski, said his client had been working at the breakfast buffet counter.

While replacing a number of burners used to keep the food warm, counsel said the lid came off one of the units. That resulted in the fuel, an ethanol gel, falling to the ground. Some of the gel got sprayed onto Ms Kalliokoski’s polyester trousers and caught fire.

In making the award, Mr Justice Lavan said he was perfectly satisfied Ms Kalliokoski, who had been working at Adare Manor since June 2004, had “a very difficult time” as a result of the burns she received to her left leg. The judge said her injuries had left Ms Kalliokoski with a permanent scar and discolouration and she would not be able to expose the skin to sunlight.

The judge noted it took two months for her wounds to heal.

In the circumstances, he said he was prepared to award damages for pain and suffering to date of €30,000, pain and suffering in the future of €35,000 and special damages of €300.