$XY compensation for foot injury in a Brisbane nightclub
Brisbane lawyers win $XY for a 19-year-old uni student who injured her foot in a nightclub.
Injuries: Foot injury
The plaintiff was with a group of friends at a nightclub when she stepped on broken glass in a poorly lit area of the establishment, which caused her to suffer a serious foot injury. Paramedics stabilised the teen and treated her for heavy bleeding before she was rushed to hospital in an ambulance.
Follow-up treatment
The heavy impact of stepping on the glass caused a deep laceration in the student’s right foot that fractured a bone and severed the main tendon on the underside of the foot. This required surgery and two pins had to be inserted into the foot, followed by extensive rehabilitation two months after the incident and ongoing medical care for the foreseeable future.
Lifestyle impact
The incident occurred during a critical time of the plaintiff’s studies for examinations in the law faculty of Queensland University. As a result of the injury – and the impact of post-traumatic trauma from the accident – she was unable to attend important lectures at the university, could not write exams and will now have to repeat the semester next year. The plaintiff was a keen walker and an avid bird watcher and has been unable to participate in either of these activities since the accident.
Final Compensation Settlement
The court ruled that the plaintiff was entitled to $XY compensation as she had incurred financial costs from missing exams and being unable to attend important lectures at the university. She had also suffered financial loss from having to give up her part-time job as a waiter, an important source of revenue to help supplement her student loan income. CCTV footage revealed that the nightclub had failed to evict rowdy and irresponsible patrons who were responsible for breaking a bottle that had caused the injury. The club had also failed to act swiftly enough after the bottle had been broken by cordoning off the area and removing all dangerous glass fragments from the floor.
