Former Limerick hurler awarded more than €940,000 over workplace accident

High Court reporters

A former Limerick senior hurler who sued his former employer over a workplace accident has been awarded a total of €944,000 by the High Court.

Mark Keane had brought his action after an accident at the Johnson & Johnson factory in Limerick when he intervened to save a colleague’s hand which had become caught in a heavy machine and he sustained significant injuries to a finger and shoulder.

An accomplished hurler, Mr Keane won three consecutive All-Irelands with Limerick under-21s between 2000 and 2002 and played senior from 2000 to 2006.

Mr Keane had taken his case against Johnson & Johnson Vision Care (Ireland) over the incident that occurred in September 2018 at their plant in the National Technological Park, Plassey, Co Limerick.

The 43-year-old alleged Johnson & Johnson were negligent and breached their duty towards him while he was working as a technician making contact lenses.

Mr Keane contended the company failed to provide him with a safe place of work and a safe system of work and was seeking damages.

Johnson & Johnson accepted responsibility for the injury Mr Keane suffered in the form of the nerve damage and injury to the plaintiff's right hand, but did not accept responsibility for Mr Keane's claim of injury to his right shoulder.

In his judgment on Tuesday morning, Mr Justice Paul Coffey awarded Mr Keane €944,074.46 in damages for his injury.

The judge said Mr Keane's post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was "undoubtedly severe and in many ways serves as the defining feature of his presentation to the court conveying that his life has been profoundly affected if not turned upside down by the trauma of his workplace accident."

Mr Justice Coffey added that he classified the PTSD as severe, while acknowledging that Mr Keane's prognosis was not so bleak as to rule out the chance of meaningful recovery with sustained professional help.

The judge said he preferred the evidence from the plaintiff that there had been a causal connection between the trauma of the accident and the emergence of symptoms in the plaintiff's right shoulder, which had no previous symptoms before the incident.

Mr Justice Coffey awarded €135,000 for general damages, €408,943.50 for future loss of earnings, €154,605 for loss of earnings since the accident, with the balance of the award made up of loss of pension rights, special damages and medical costs.

The judge said the accident had a "profound impact on the plaintiff’s psychological wellbeing and family life, leaving him feeling emotionally and mentally devastated".

"His wife, Karen, testified that the accident has completely changed him, and she now worries everyday for his well-being," said the judge.

Before the accident, Mr Keane had overcome alcoholism, rebuilt his career and was financially stable, "but the accident's impact has left him feeling emasculated, helpless and incapable of providing for his family," said the judge.

Mr Keane, of Raheen, Ballyneety, Co Limerick, told the High Court he was on the factory floor when a colleague caught their hand in a machine on the line next to him and started "roaring" in pain. Mr Keane said he ran to help his colleague but because the man could not free his arm, his body formed a barrier between the plaintiff and a release lever which could have freed the arm.

Mr Keane told Mr Justice Paul Coffey that he tried to reach into the machine but got his own hand caught on some internal gridding, or railing, and the right hand of his little finger was bent backwards.

He then took the weight of the lid, top and plate of the machine and managed to hold it ajar for 30-60 seconds until co-workers arrived with a crowbar and freed the co-worker.

Michael McMahon SC, for Mr Keane, said his client could not find work because of the injury that affected the nerves in his hand and damaged his elbow, shoulder and back.

Mr McMahon said his client had been a "rescuer" on the date but instead suffered "a very serious injury" that caused "extensive, ongoing damage".

Counsel said the "net result" of the incident was that his client, who had been a "very fine hurler", was left with a painful, frozen shoulder and suffered pain up and down his arm, while the damage to his hand had created a loss of grip.

Mr McMahon said the injury had huge implications for his client, adding that Mr Keane could now not get a job and that he would have been earning €1,300 a week after tax if he was still working at Johnson & Johnson.