Wheelchair-bound employee awarded over €327,000 in damages

Frenchman Atef Zarrouk, 43, was awarded €327,258.50 in damages after C&F Building Contractors Ltd, the construction company he worked for, was held responsible for an occupational incident that left him permanently disabled.

The First Hall of the Civil Court heard how on 12 August 1999, the victim was carrying out works on a roof at St Vincent de Paul's home for the elderly. Foreman Roger Spagnol had assigned work to Zarrouck, which he was neither accustomed to nor knowledgeable about. The victim had been employed by C&F to clear up material, clean the construction site and mix mud and cement. However his foreman had started assigning him work which, Zarrouck claimed, Spagnol considered as dangerous to other workers.

While working on a roof at SVDP, the roof collapsed, taking the victim down with it. Zarrouck fell a height of around one storey suffering permanent disability which confined him to a wheelchair. The father of three lost his job and filed a civil suit against his former employers.

Evidence exhibited in court proved the victim had been assigned work normally carried out by three people. He was left alone to carry construction work he had no training for and he was wearing no health and safety equipment. Witnesses held that Spagnol would specifically assign dangerous jobs to the victim. Spagnol was also not aware of what was written in the company's health and safety manual.

Mr Justice Joseph Azzopardi decreed C&F Building Contractors Ltd were solely  responsible for the incident. The company had not assigned an on site health and safety officer and simply provided employees with safety shoes and helmets.

The court awarded Zarrouck  €327,258.5 in damages.