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A woman who sued after falling off a hotel stage at an employee awards ceremony has settled her High Court action.
Teresa Fermoyle (61) worked in Jurys Inn, Christchurch, Dublin, until the accident when she fell off the stage and allegedly hurt her back at a ceremony in Scotland where she got an employee award for her long service to the company.
She had sued her employer and the Scottish hotel that had hosted the awards event five years ago. The defendants had denied her claims.
As part of the overall settlement, she withdrew a €180,000 claim for loss of earnings.
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The settlement of the case on Tuesday came after she was cross-examined by counsel for the defendants, Finbarr Fox SC, with Shane English and Ali Bracken Ziad.
Ms Fermoyle, of Drumcliffe Road, Cabra, Dublin had sued her employer, Jurys Inns Group, with offices at Ballsbridge, Dublin, and Amaris Hospitality, with offices at Pembroke Road, Ballsbridge, the owners of the Hilton Doubletree Hotel, Glasgow, as a result of the accident on February 22nd, 2017.
She claimed many employees were called on to the stage during the award ceremony and she was allegedly required to move back to make more space on the stage and fell off.
She further claimed she continues to have lower back pain and has not been able to return to work.
All the claims were denied and it was contended there was contributory negligence on Ms Fermoyle’s behalf in that she allegedly failed to pay adequate attention to where she was standing or moving to.
On the second day of the hearing, Ms Fermoyle said she was in “constant pain”.
Shown stills from surveillance videos taken of her shopping at different locations she said: “I am trying to live a normal life, I am not a hermit. I have to eat.”
Mr Fox put it to her that on one occasion she was pushing a shopping trolley that looked “rather full” and was carrying another bag.
Ms Fermoyle replied that it did not mean she was not in pain.
Counsel put it to her that she had stated she did not have any other income other than social welfare but he put it to her that she was “running a rental business from her home”.
She said she had rented out a room to cover her bills but had not said it because she did not think it was relevant. She said it was only “small money and it was not income like going to a factory”.
When the case resumed on Tuesday afternoon, Mr Justice Paul Coffey was told the case had been settled and could be struck out.
He was also informed Ms Fermoyle had withdrawn a loss of earnings claim as part of the settlement.