Man claims $2.5 million against local company for eye injury Loop Cayman Islands

Black Immigrant Daily News

A man who is claiming $2.5 million in damages for personal injury against a Cayman company applied to the court for a part payment of USD480,000 towards the total possible damages as estimated by the man (this request for a part payment was on top of a previous, voluntary interim payment of USD350,000 paid to the man in April 2021). In its decision, the court agreed that the man had a reasonable need for a further interim payment to assist with legal and medical costs, but awarded a lower sum than requested by the man.

Accident giving rise to claim

According to the judgment for part payment delivered on July 7, 2022, the man’s claim relates to “damages resulting from personal injuries suffered on the Defendant’s premises.”

More specifically, the allegation is that, on March 25, 2017, the man was walking along an external walkway besides the exterior wall of the premises adjoining the sea shore when he stopped and bent down to observe fish in rock pools. As he stood up, he leaned towards the wall to get his balance but before his hand could make contact with the wall an uncut piece of rusty reinforcing bar or rebar jutting out of the wall broke through the right lens of his sunglasses and deeply penetrated into the area of his right eye. The man then allegedly fell to the ground, causing further injuries to his face and bleeding to his nose and right ear.

The man claims that the injuries suffered were caused by the negligence of the Cayman company and that he is entitled to general and special damages.

In response, the Cayman company has denied liability and alleged contributory negligence.

The parties have therefore agreed that negligence as to the man is 50 per cent and 50 per cent as to the Cayman company, leaving damages to be assessed.

Calculation of total damages

Bearing in mind that the Cayman company is saying that the man is 50 per cent negligent in the circumstances, the parties estimated damages for loss of earnings, future medical treatment and pain and suffering as follows:

Estimated damages for personal injury (source: Cayman courts)

In analysing the estimates, however, the judge acknowledged that medical evidence only came from one source and additional expert medical evidence was needed. In addition, the court documents noted the concern for a lack of any meaningful evidence about the man’s earning capacity apart from a letter from his brother’s company which confirmed what they would have been prepared to pay the man if he worked for that company. Lastly, the court documents indicated that there was a lack of any current or cogent evidence about the likely impact the man’s business idea for a lodge may have on the man’s ability to earn or receive an income.

In the end, the judge said that, after reviewing the respective positions of the parties and adopting a global approach, he was in some difficulty in assessing the present value of the man’s future loss.

The judge said:

To order the interim payment as currently sought would result in the payment to the Plaintiff of approximately 65% of the claim calculated on his figures. The Defendant’s case puts the claim at a far lower value, but still subject to the variables identified above.

I am satisfied that the Plaintiff has a reasonable need for an interim payment to assist with legal and medical costs. However, based on the above, and in order to avoid the risk of the Plaintiff receiving an overpayment, in my view, it would be imprudent to order a payment of more than US$150,000 at this stage.

While this case has not yet concluded and only interim payments have made to date towards estimated damages for personal injury, it is an interesting reminder to local companies that risks may be present in or around their properties and they may wish to therefore take note of the same. Residents and visitors should also be cautious and look out for dangers when visiting properties.

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