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A Ryanair baggage handler who injured his arm when he lifted a colleague to close the hold of a plane received 64,536 euros in damages from the High Court.
A suspension pending appeal applies to the award awarded to Tomasz Zborowski, who is still an employee of the airline.
Judge Kevin Cross granted Ryanair’s request for a stay on appeal.
It also agreed to suspend the immediate payment of 20,000 euros until an appeal is presented to the Court of Appeal for a first hearing of instructions.
In his view, Judge Cross said that Ryanair was clearly negligent and did not see how liability should have been maintained in this case.
He said Zborowski had suffered a very unpleasant and painful injury to his biceps and that he “doesn’t care too much about it.”
The plaintiff was an honest witness who downplayed his complaints, he said.
Zborowski (39), Waterside, Malahide, Dublin had sued Ryanair for the accident at Dublin airport on June 24, 2017.
It happened when a Ryanair flight arrived at Dublin airport and was supposed to fly back to Malta.
In his evidence, the plaintiff said that there was generally a response time of 25 minutes for getting luggage and passengers on board.
He said the strap to pull down the cargo hold that was six feet off the ground wasn’t there and cupped his hands to lift his colleague up and reach the door. She said she felt severe pain and a cracking sound in her arm.
He later discovered that he had a distal biceps tear and had to undergo surgery. She was out of work for seven months after the accident and was left with a scar on her arm.
He later faced a disciplinary hearing on the matter and received a written warning and Ryanair withheld his salary for several weeks.
In his proceedings, he claimed that he had not taken any precautions for his safety and had not provided an alternative means of closing the cargo hold.
He further claimed that he was allowed to lift a co-worker for the purpose of closing the cargo hold due to the time pressure of the change.
He also claimed that he had not provided him with any suitable equipment to be able to safely close the warehouse.
The claims were denied and Ryanair alleged contributory negligence and that Mr. Zborowski did not make use of the machinery and appliances available.
Judge Cross, in sentencing on the third day of the hearing, said he did not believe time was a factor in the case.
Mr. Zborowski, he said, was trained in lifting weights that pertained to baggage handling, but at the time of the incident he had no training in the safe method of closing the cellar door when there was a broken strap. T
The judge said that Mr. Zborowski did not accept the description of the disciplinary meeting as accurate when it was reported that he said he made the “wrong decision.”
Of course, Zborowski had made the wrong decision, but making the wrong decision was not evidence of negligence, he said.
The baggage handler was dealing with a difficult but common incident for which he had no training, the judge said.
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