SUPREME COURT Woman seeks $50,000 for hand injury

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33032, 27 September 1972, Page 17

SUPREME COURT Woman seeks $50,000 for hand injury

The hearing of a claim for general damages of $50,000 :by Miriama Carney, aged 45, against her former employer, W. T. Murray, Ltd, silver and stainless steelwear manufacturer, for injuries suffered when her right hand was crushed in a plastic mould, began in the Supreme Court yesterday j before Mr Justice Wilson and a jury'.

Messrs B. McClelland and C. A. McVeigh appear for Mrs Carney and Messrs J. G. Leggat and I. J. D. Hall for W. T. Murray, Ltd, which denies liability. Mr McClelland said, when opening the case for the plaintiff, that Mrs Carney, as a result of an accident at the defendant company’s factory on July 27, 1970, had two fingers amputated in hospital, had two fingers which would not work, had virtually no grip in her right hand, and could not raise her right arm much above her shoulder. For all practical purposes Mrs Carney was now a onehanded person. When the accident occurred Mrs Carney was using an electrically heated plastic mould, the jaws of which came together when a handle was operated. Mrs Carney was using an air hose to blow out bits of plastic from the previous operation when she must have knocked the handle, which was unguarded, with her leg or body, and the jaws closed on her hand, which was burned, blistered, and crushed. It was alleged that the accident was caused by negligence by the defendant company, which had pleaded guilty in the Magistrate’s Court to a charge of having dangerous machinery unguarded. There was now a protective cage over the handle.

Mrs Carney had had an unfortunate life, Mr McClel-

land said. She was a part Maori who left school at the age of 15 and had to earn her living ever since. She was separated from her husband, who paid no maintenance. There were very few jobs available for an uneducated, one-handed Maori woman of 45. The chances of her earning anything worth while were very' slender and she was unemployable except for odd jobs. Mrs Carney suffered pain from the hand, which was unsightly and she had to wear a glove over it. She was now unable to play the guitar or piano and had difficulty in dressing and doing her housework. She had spent seven weeks in Burwood Hospital, where attempts were made to save her fingers, but two had to be amputated. The defendant company denied that the accident was caused by its negligence, but said that, even if it was negligent, there was contributory negligence by Mrs Carney, Mr McClelland said. The trial is expected to end today.