A teenager who was scalded when a hotel waiter carrying a tray of hot coffee allegedly collided with him has settled his High Court action for €50,000.
The High Court heard Daniel Paterson sustained a scalding injury to his left forearm and was later left with a scar after the incident.
Daniel, now 17-years-old, of Palmerstown Park, Rathmines, Dublin had through his mother, Leonie Paterson sued the 4-Star Herbert Park Hotel, Ballsbridge, Dublin as a result of the accident on the hotel premises on March 10th, 2019.
In an affidavit to the court, his mother said a staff member carrying a tray of hot coffee allegedly collided with her son and the coffee spilt on the boy's left forearm.
The hotel denied all the claims and the court heard there was a dispute as to how the accident occurred. The judge accepted there were issues in relation to liability in the case.
Daniel’s mother said her son was helped at the hotel and later brought to St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin where he received painkillers and a burn gel pack was applied to the arm, in addition to a dressing.
His mother said her son had to attend follow-up appointments at the hospital's outpatient unit for four weeks until the burn healed. The boy went on to develop residual scarring and was left with a red scar over 5cm long.
It was claimed the boy had ten weeks of laser treatment to reduce the redness of the scarring.
In her affidavit to the court, his mother said her son missed a number of days from school after the incident and was disrupted in his sporting pursuits when he was on his school's junior cup rugby panel, but he later returned to playing the sport.
Ms Paterson said her son avoided wearing short-sleeved t-shirts, but has come to terms in a very sensible and realistic way with the scar.
Approving the settlement, Mr Justice Garrett Simons said it was a good one.
