A WAITRESS who dropped an empty mug on her foot has been awarded a record £75,000 damages for personal injuries in Dublin's Circuit Civil Court.
Judge Diarmuid Sheridan held that Ms Pauline Cregan could suffer pain in her left foot and numbness in two of her toes for the rest of her life.
Ms Cregan (42), a mother of two children, said the mug smashed and cut her foot as she cleaned tables in Bewley's Mary Street restaurant where she worked.
Her counsel, Mr John Nolan, told the court the action had been sent back from the High Court with consent to unlimited jurisdiction.
Ms Cregan told Judge Sheridan she had been clearing tables and the mug fell as she went to place a fray on a trolley on April 4th, 1991.
She said she was required to clean up the Market Fair area of the restaurant within half an hour and this placed her under extreme pressure.
Despite numerous requests the management had failed to provide sufficient staff to enable her to carry out her duties safely, she claimed.
Judge Sheridan heard that Ms Cregan had received a cut which required seven stitches but despite medical treatment, including surgery, she had been left with throbbing pain five years later.
She said that because of this she was unable to work a full five day week at a new job in a dry cleaners and could not wear high heel shoes.
Ms Cregan denied a suggestion by counsel for Bewley's, Mr Adrian Mannering, that she was exaggerating the extent of her pain.
A consultant in pain management at the Mater Hospital, Ms Roisin Mac Sullivan, said the sensitivity of a scar on Ms Cregan's foot could not be alleviated with currently available medical treatment. She estimated that on a pain scale of 10, equivalent to surgery without anaesthetic, Ms Cregan's suffering would vary from three to seven.
Judge Sheridan granted a stay to allow an appeal to the High Court, on condition that £25,000 was paid out immediately to Ms Cregan.