By Ann O'Loughlin
A Ryanair baggage handler who injured his arm when he gave a colleague a lift up to close a plane cargo hold has been awarded €64,536 by the High Court.
However, Tomasz Zborowski (39) who is still an employee of the airline will not receive any of the award straight away as Mr Justice Kevin Cross acceded to a Ryanair application for a stay in the event of an appeal. The judge also agreed to a stay on the immediate payout of €20,000 until the case comes before the Court of Appeal for a first directions hearing.
Ryanair now has a set number of days to decide if it is going to appeal the decision in the case. Ryanair, Mr Justice Cross said was clearly negligent and he did not see how liability should have been maintained in this case.
Mr Zborowski, the judge said suffered a very nasty and painful injury to the biceps and "he does not make too much of it". The baggage handler, the judge added, was an honest witness who minimised his complaints.
Turnaround
Tomasz Zborowski, Waterside, Malahide, Dublin had sued Ryanair over the accident at Dublin Airport on June 24th, 2017. It happened when a Ryanair flight came in to Dublin Airport and was due to fly back out to Malta. The baggage handler said there was usually a turnaround time of 25 minutes to get bags and passengers on board.
Mr Zborowski in evidence said the strap to pull down the cargo hold which was two metres from the ground was not there and he cupped his hands to lift his colleague up to reach the door. He said he felt a heavy pain and a crack on his arm.
He later in his native Poland discovered he had a tear to the distal biceps and he had to have surgery.
Mr Zborowski was out of work for seven months after the accident and has been left with a scar on his arm. He later faced a disciplinary hearing on the matter and received a written warning and his wages were stopped by Ryanair for a number of weeks.
In his proceedings he claimed there was a failure to take any precautions for his safety and an alleged failure to provide an alternative means of closing the cargo hold. He further claimed he was allegedly permitted to lift up a fellow employee for the purpose of closing the cargo hold due to time pressure of the turnaround. He also claimed there was an alleged failure to provide him with any or any adequate equipment to enable the cargo hold to be closed safely.
The claims were denied and Ryanair claimed there was alleged contributory negligence on the part of the baggage handler. It further claimed Mr Zborowski failed to avail of available machinery and appliances.
Mr Justice Cross giving judgment on the third day of the hearing said he did not think time was a factor in the case.
Mr Zborowski, he said, was trained in the lifting of weights which pertained to handling luggage but at time of the incident he had no training in the safe method of closing the hold door when there was a broken strap. The judge said Mr Zborowski does not accept as accurate the description of the disciplinary meeting when he was reported as saying he made the wrong choice.
Mr Justice Cross said of course Mr Zborowski made the wrong choice but making the wrong choice, the judge said is not evidence of negligence .
The baggage handler he said was dealing with a difficult but common occurrence for which he had no training.
