Posted: November 28th, 2020
A young man, a member of the traveller community, who was was told by a staff member the pizza restaurant that the store was not a charity giving out free and also wrongly accused of not paying for a takeaway, has been awarded €12,500 in personal injury compensation.
Barrister Tim Sheehan, who appeared with Elizabeth Ferris Solicitors for Patrick Connors (17), said it was normal in the restaurant for the customer to order and pay for food and then wait until it was ready. Judge John O’Connor in the Circuit Civil Court was informed that a year ago in Dominos Pizza in Citywest, Dublin, the Connors had been kept waiting outside for a period of 20 minutes after having asked for the gardaí being called. He was eventually forced to leave without receiving the food he had paid for.
Patrick informed the court that, when his food order had arrived at the counter an assistant asked him: “Can I be paid for this?” Mr Connors replied saying he had already paid for his food, to which he was told: “Either pay now or be removed. We are not a charity like St Vincent de Paul. We don’t give out food for free. I have never heard anyone speak like you on the map before. I don’t understand you.”
Mr Sheehan said a number of security workers employed at Citywest Shopping Centre then come to the scene and one informed Mr Connors they had called the gardaí at his request but the gardaí never arrived at the scene. He added: “The following day when his mother, Bridget Connors, called to Dominos about the incident she received an apology from a staff member. She was told the entire incident had been videoed and the CCTV had made it quite clear Patrick had paid and had been wrongly accused.”
Mr Sheehan informed the court that Domino’s insurance company had, during mediation talks, behaved very openly. He added that they claimed the mistake had taken place as a result of a change of staff shift between the time that Patrick ordered the food and before he went to the counter to collect it.
Categories: Personal Injury Claims
