Widow of man fatally hit by manhole cover settles case for €330,000

The widow of a young man who died after being struck on the head by the cover of a manhole on which he was working has settled her High Court action for €330,000.

It was claimed Grzegorz Burczak (31), who came here from Poland, was emerging from the manhole on the public roadway at Kill Avenue, Dun Laoghaire, when he was hit by the manhole cover after it was struck by a bollard, which was struck by a car.

Approving the settlement for Aghieszka Burczak, Mr Justice Kevin Cross said this was a particularly tragic accident to befall her husband, "a young man who came to this country and worked hard through a recession".

“It is a terrible tragedy which will live with his family for the rest of their lives,” the judge said.

Ms Burczak, Hunters Brook, Delgany, Co Wicklow had sued over the death of her husband on June 12th, 2012. The couple has one child, aged 11.

The settlement was approved on Wednesday but the case will come back to court on February 12th next when the court will rule on how much each of the defendants, plus a third party brought into the case at a later, stage have to pay out.

Mrs Burczak had sued a car driver, Michael Murphy, Ardmore Park, Kill Avenue, Dun Laoghaire, and RSJ Civil Limited, a civil engineering company of South Quay, Arklow, Co Wicklow as a result of the accident.

She claimed there was an alleged failure by Mr Murphy to steer a proper and safe course and an alleged failure by RSJ Civil Limited to provided a system whereby traffic was adequately warned of the works being carried out by Mr Burczak.

It was alleged Mr Burczak was emerging from the manhole on to the road at Kill Avenue when he was hit by the manhole cover.

Raymond Comyn SC, for Ms Burczak, said it was a “desperately sad” case where Mr Burczak was working on a manhole cover.

Counsel said residents of Kill Avenue had complained of noise particularly at night when cars went over the manholes and the covers rattled. This led to a simple job of fitting gaskets on the manhole covers and Mr Burczak was working on his second cover, cleaning it, when the accident happened.

Counsel said it appeared Mr Murphy, who was driving a car, struck a cone on the road and it was either dragged or thrown forward so it hit the open manhole cover which struck Mr Burczak on the head, killing him instantly.

Counsel said Mrs Burczak was happy with the settlement.