€16k for clerk who hurt back
Agnieszka Spyra had gone to the High Court after a Circuit Court judge had dismissed her case.
Yesterday, Mr Justice Kevin Cross awarded Ms Spyra a total of €16,650, though he found she was 20% responsible for her accident as she checked in passengers to an early-morning Ryanair flight five years ago.
Ms Spyra, aged 36, of Ridgewood Close, Swords, Co Dublin had sued her employer, MK Human Resources Ltd of Glasnevin, Dublin, and Ryanair as a result of the accident on July 28, 2011 as she checked in passengers at 4.45am.
It was claimed her duties at the time included lifting the last bag for the flight from the conveyor belt and placing a sticker on it indicating the flight was closed before returning it to the conveyor belt.
It was claimed that there was a system of work that was allegedly unsafe and the check-in desk was unsuitable for manually lifting bags on to the conveyor belt by the check-in staff.
Mr Justice Kevin Cross said he found the defendants liable. He said he was not of the view that Ms Spyra’s training regarding the lifting of baggage was sufficient. He said it should have been “site specific”. However, he found there was 20% contributory negligence on her behalf and reduced the award from an original €20,800 to €16,650.
He also awarded the costs of both the High Court and Circuit Court to Ms Spyra.
He said there was contributory negligence because Ms Spyra knew what she ought to have done while handling a bag weighing between 7kg and 8kg. She should have turned her body and not twisted when lifting the luggage but did not.
In evidence, Ms Spyra said she stood up to lift the bag off the conveyor belt and twisted rather than turning her body to place it behind her chair.
