A fruit packer who suffered a serious shoulder injury when she slipped on a single grape at a Keelings fruit processing plant, was forced to withdraw a €60,000 personal injuries claim against the company after a CCTV zoom-in revealed she had been the author of her own downfall.
Forensic engineer Donal Terry, for Keelings, was able to show Judge James O’Donohoe in the Circuit Civil Court that the grape on which fruit packer Myriam Scanderi had slipped on was one of two that had spilled from a bucketful she had been carrying at the time.
During the introduction of Scanderi’s case, defence counsel Adrianne Fields said the hour-long case might be significantly shortened if the court first viewed CCTV of the actual incident. The video, when zoomed in on, showed the single offending fruit spill in front of her and cause the accident.
Scanderi (57), of Marlborough Court, Dublin, had, the court was told, suffered a serious shoulder injury that might affect her for the rest of her life. Fields, who appeared with Byrne Wallace Solicitors for the Co Dublin fruit producer, said CCTV showed two employees walking directly ahead of Scanderi with no sign of grapes on the floor.
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Once the zoom-in was shown to the court, Fields asked the judge for time to allow the two expert engineers in the case to confer to see if they could agree there had been no sign of deleterious material on the floor before the small spillage.
Counsel also told the court the CCTV showed Scanderi carrying the bucket of grapes at a forward-tilted angle, which allowed the spillage.
Following a meeting of the two engineers, Scanderi’s counsel told the judge she was withdrawing her claim against Keelings and a recruiting company. The case was struck out with no further order.
Both parties had agreed that Ms Scanderi had suffered a significant shoulder injury for which the defendants denied any responsibility.
