Fruit packer forced to drop claim after CCTV showed she spilled grape that caused fall
Ray Managh
A fruit packer who suffered a serious shoulder injury when she slipped on a single grape at a Keelings fruit processing plant was forced to withdraw a €60,000 personal injuries claim against the company after CCTV footage revealed she had been the author of her own downfall.
Forensic engineer Donal Terry, for Keelings, was able to show Judge James O’Donohoe in the Circuit Civil Court that the grape on which Venezuelan fruit packer Myriam Scanderi had slipped was one of two that had spilled from a bucketful she had been carrying at the time.
Introducing Scanderi’s case, defence counsel Adrianne Fields said the hour-long case might be significantly shortened if the court first viewed CCTV of the actual incident. The footage showed the single grape spillin front of her, causing the accident.
Scanderi (57) of Marlborough Court, Dublin, had suffered a serious shoulder injury that might affect her for the rest of her life, the court was told. Fields, who appeared with Byrne Wallace Solicitors for the Co Dublin fruit producer, said CCTV showed two employees walking directly ahead of Scanderi with no sign of grapes on the floor.
Once the zoom-in was shown to the court, Fields asked Judge O’Donohoe for time to allow the two expert engineers in the case to confer as to whether there was a sign of deleterious material on the floor before the small spillage.
Counsel also told the court that the CCTV showed Scanderi carrying the bucket of grapes at a forward tilted angle, which allowed the spillage.
Following a meeting of the two engineers outside of court, counsel for Scanderi told the judge she was withdrawing her claim against Keelings and a recruiting company. The case was struck out with no further order.
Both parties had agreed that Scanderi had indeed suffered a significant shoulder injury for which the defendants denied any responsibility.
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