Garda gets €15k for hearing loss from barking dogs!

gurramok

Justified or barking mad?

Thats 15k of taxpayers money to ahem compensate for noisy pooches.

rte wrote:

A 55-year-old garda who claimed he had become profoundly deaf after being exposed to the constant noise of barking dogs has been awarded €15,000 by the High Court.

Thomas Donnelly, of the Garda Dogs Unit, took his action against the Garda Commissioner, the Minister for Justice, and the Attorney General.

Rest of story here-> http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0118/donnellyt.html?rss

Gas part ->
'The judge said most of the damage was caused between 1979 and July 1990.

But the judge said Garda Donnelly had failed to establish that this was the result of negligence or breach of any other duty on the part of the State.

Mr Justice Quirke said Garda Donnelly sustained additional damage to his hearing between July 1990 and November 2001 and that this damage was the result of the State's negligence and breaches of regulations introduced by the State in 1990..'

So the law which was introduced to stop these type of claims did the exact opposite!!

Archeron

gurramok wrote: »

Justified or barking mad?

WHAT??? I'M SORRY, I CANT HEAR YOU OVER THE FAN IN MY COMPUTER.

Damn you Targa, I'll see you in court for this.....

RonMexico

Yeah the bangarda make an awful racket sometimes.

ScumLord

I don't know, those dogs don't bark all the time for no reason there trained to bark at someone when there instructed to. Any German shepherd I've seen has always been silent up to the point you jump into the back garden.

He must have known this, and he must have noticed it having an effect on him. It's stupid of him to not take matters into his own hands to protect his own hearing then lodge a complaint. To go deaf just because he wasn't issued ear protection is just plain stupid.

Saruman

Listening to loud music or personal audio with earphones all the time will make you go deaf.. loud noise in general.. however barking dogs, while annoying is unlikely to produce the decibel level to make you go deaf..

sounds like he heard about the army deafness claims and decided to chance his arm.

Latchy

Then you have actress lesley Ash who yesterday was awarded £5 million for the MRSA bug she picked up in hospital .Now given that she had already had a lip suction operation go wrong which resulted in her being called ' trout ' (sure most have seen the post op pics of her so that explains that ) and as a result had stress and humiliation heaped upon her .But the MRSA bug she picked up in hospital was due to an accident she had from falling out of bed while (supposedly ) making love to her boyfriend ,former Leeds utd footballer Lee chapman .Now giving that the familys of most MRSA victims were /are more intreseted in better hygeine in hospitals that would prevent the disease from spreading than any compensation ,it seem quite bizzare that Ash recieves this large award .Their is no doubt that she suffered terribly as a result of the bug which was the fault of the hospital she was a patient at (her trout expierence was self inflicted ) but many people are asking why such a large sum as this could not have being better spent an helping prevent the MRSA itself ?

stepbar

That's what the public service does to you, takes away your initiative :rolleyes: He was one stupid cnut to have not invested in a pair of ear plugs. Hell if it was me I'd just buy the damm things and give out later.

AckwelFoley

simply lol.

gurramok

ScumLord wrote: »

I don't know, those dogs don't bark all the time for no reason there trained to bark at someone when there instructed to. Any German shepherd I've seen has always been silent up to the point you jump into the back garden.

He must have known this, and he must have noticed it having an effect on him. It's stupid of him to not take matters into his own hands to protect his own hearing then lodge a complaint. To go deaf just because he wasn't issued ear protection is just plain stupid.

And it took him 16 years to make a claim.

Ffs, if the dogs did really cause him to go deaf, wouldn't ya think he'd have the common sense in 1979 to protect his ears instead of letting go on for 22 years??

I always thought the gardai were intelligent people, a pair of ear plugs wouldn't set them back much!

keen

I'd pick me hearing over 15 grand any day.

Nuttzz

€15k, he must be gutted, the army lads got a lot more!!

Mr.Micro

Chump change, he probably thought he was hearing things.

gurramok

He heard ching ching!!:D

arybvtcw0eolkf

Nuttzz wrote: »

€15k, he must be gutted, the army lads got a lot more!!

In the early days they did.

But they showed negligence on behalf of the Defence Forces in not issuing hearing protection to the troops, while officers and ordnance corps pers were issued ear defenders.

Also the defence forces hearing claims really exlpoded (no pun) when the minister for defence (Coveny, Cork TD) was photographed on a firepower demo in 'The Glen' wearing 'ear defenders' while the enlisted troops around him use 4x2 cotton wadding to protect their hearing.

Regardless if its a government job or not, if your employer is negligent in providing you with the proper protection to ensure you work in a safe evironment then no one can complain if you seek compensation for injuries suffered.

gurramok

Mairt wrote: »

In the early days they did.
Regardless if its a government job or not, if your employer is negligent in providing you with the proper protection to ensure you work in a safe evironment then no one can complain if you seek compensation for injuries suffered.

From dogs though?

Hardly like live explosives on a firing range?!

Rb

€15k is nothing really, I'd be far more concerned about the taxpayers money paying those useless shower of pr1cks we call our "government representatives" so much money for doing such a horrendous job of it.

arybvtcw0eolkf

gurramok wrote: »

From dogs though?

Hardly like live explosives on a firing range?!

Well obviously his job was WOOF.