A leading trade union official who claimed he sustained serious back and neck injuries after a chair collapsed under him in a hotel bedroom in Carlow has been awarded €49,625 by a High Court judge.
Thomas White, an assistant general secretary of the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union (TEEU), had told the Court that, before the accident at the Dolmen Hotel, Carlow, he used to do four to six mile walks and play golf.
Mr White, of Ardmore Drive, Artane had sued Ridgeway International Ltd trading as the Dolmen Hotel as a result of the accident on September 29th, 1999.
In his judgment yesterday, Mr Justice Vivian Lavan said he accepted Mr White's evidence and that he was a genuine person.
He held the defendant was liable for damages and awarded Mr White €20,000 for his pain and suffering to date and €25,000 for pain and suffering in the future. He also allowed special damages of €4,625 plus costs.
Last November, the court was told Mr White was a guest in the hotel and attending a FÁS conference at a the time. He said he was brushing his hair when he fell backwards off the chair, striking the back of his head against a bed and falling on a floor. The chair was in two pieces and had "separated with great gusto".
When he looked at the chair, he felt it was a "multi repair job" and it had a bundle of glue on it. Immediately after the accident, he went to the reception area and reported the matter.
The duty manager assigned him a new room. He said he was not aware of the extent of his injuries at that time. "I would not be one jumping in to litigate at the first opportunity," he said.
He was sore all over the next day and went to his doctor.
He was later referred to a pain specialist and was told he requires a spinal cord implant for pain relief. Some two years after the accident, Mr White claims to still experience neck pain and stiffness and lower back pain.
At a previous hearing, Mr Justice Lavan found the hotel was negligent in relation to the incident.
He said he was satisfied that the chair broke because it was defective in the manner described by Mr White. He accepted Mr White was a paying guest in the hotel and also accepted his account of the accident.