A 61-year-old woman has been awarded 28,000 Euros as compensation after she fell off the toilet in her own home in Ireland.
Isabela O’Sullivan was injured when a tile fell close to her while she was using the toilet of her Shankill, Dublin home in September, 2011.
O’Sullivan got such a fright from the falling tile that she fell forward, injuring her right knee, ‘Irish Independent’ reported.
Barrister William Martin Smith told the The Circuit Civil Court that O’Sullivan, only weeks before the accident, had her bathroom re-tiled following a fire at her house.
O’Sullivan sued the contractor who had been hired by her insurance company to carry out remedial work.
The contractor denied liability for alleged negligence or that the work had not been done properly.
But forensic engineer Barry Tennyson sided with O’Sullivan, saying the tile had fallen because of “poor workmanship” and the possibility that improper adhesive had been applied to it.
X-rays showed that O’Sullivan had an underlying degenerative condition in her knee, the report said.
The judge accepted O’Sullivan’s account and awarded her 25,000 Euros in damages for pain and suffering, along with 2,500 Euros for replacing the tiles and expenses of 350 Euros.
