HR AND PAYROLL eZine
April eZine 2011
EMPLOYMENT LAW ROUND UP
€13,500 AWARDED TO TESCO SECURITY MAN OVER BEING TRAPPED IN LIFT
A security man with Tesco who was one of seven employees trapped in an in-store lift for almost an hour has been awarded €13,500 damages for post-traumatic stress disorder.
The lack of oxygen, heat and humidity has caused fear and panic in William Murphy, Co. Wicklow, as he awaited rescue, according to Judge Joseph Mathews.
Mr Murphy had sued Tesco Ireland and Byrne Lifts Ltd, which had installed and maintained the lift at Tesco's Dundrum Shopping Centre. Awarding Mr Murphy damages, Judge Mathews, said he had been affected to such an extent by the September 2006 incident that he had been out of work for several weeks with a stress-related illness, and still feared lifts and confined spaces.
Gillian Reid, for Mr Murphy, told the court he was a security man in the Wicklow town Tesco branch and was in Dundrum on training. After Mr Murphy entered the lift, it had dropped without warning and suddenly juddered to a halt, trapping the group for between 45 minutes and an hour.
Judge Mathews, in a reserved judgement following a two-day hearing of the case, said he was satisfied the lift had not been overloaded, and that the problem had been caused by its over-speeding.
