‘Injured’ worker withdraws case

A meat factory worker who told doctors he had very restricted movement and was in almost daily pain for six years after a workplace injury was shown on video yesterday lifting wooden pallets and smashing them to pieces with an axe.

Krysztof Falgowski of Ballylangley, Bandon, Co Cork, was at the High Court in Cork suing his former employer APB of Bandon, Co Cork, for an incident which he alleged caused him a back injury on February 17, 2009.

Liam Gaynor, defending, asked for a video recorded by Insurances and General Investigation Services, a private investigator, to be played in court.

Once the 10-minute video was played, the defence legal team asked for a brief adjournment, after which they asked Mr Justice Michael Moriarty to strike out the case as it was being withdrawn by the plaintiff.

“The less said the better,” Mr Justice Moriarty said.

During cross-examination, Mr Gaynor put it to Mr Falgowski that he had demonstrated very significant difficulties bending throughout the six years since the alleged incident, which was in contrast to the movement shown in the video.

“Observations demonstrate you have full, free, strong movements in every part of your body.”

As the court was about to break for lunch and even before cross-examination commenced, the judge said after hearing direct evidence from Mr Falgowski: “It is not going particularly well for the plaintiff.”