A chambermaid cleaning a room in the Brandon Hotel, Tralee, more than three years ago, injured her hand with a syringe needle discarded in an ashtray, the Circuit Civil Court was told yesterday.
Judge Dominic Lynch heard that Ms Anita Berry (24) of Ryevale Lawns, Leixlip, Co. Kildare, lost two stone in weight due to extreme stress following the incident and feared contracting hepatitis or AIDS despite blood tests having proved negative.
She told the court she scraped the back of her hand on the needle while cleaning a desk in a room vacated by a Spanish tourist. Awarding her just over £7,000 damages for the severe anxiety she had suffered, Judge Lynch said the only negligence by the hotel was in the matter of instruction to Ms Berry, so he considered her 75 per cent responsible on liability and cut the decree to £1,790 with District Court costs.