Corporate relations manager settles case against UCD over neck injury

A corporate relations manager who claimed she injured her neck as she attempted to pick up a box of information leaflets at an event in Budapest to promote UCD has settled her High Court action on undisclosed terms.

Jacqueline Ashmore had told the court she felt “overwhelming and extreme pain” in her neck when she lifted the box eight inches from the ground at the UCD stand at the Hungarian university four years ago.

“Something awful had happened, there was this horrendous pain. I knew it was the box. It was like somebody had stabbed me in the neck. I thought I was going to vomit,” she said.

The 57-year old woman who had worked for UCD for 24 years and whose case included a claim for loss of earnings and pension totalling over €700,000 had to stand in the witness box at times as she gave her evidence to the court. She claimed she has been left with complex pain syndrome, has pain in her neck and down one side of her body and has a condition which means her neck is tilted to the right.

On Friday afternoon, Ms Ashmore’s counsel Diarmuid P O’Donovan SC told Ms Justice Deirdre Murphy the case had settled and could be struck out.

Earlier under crossexamination from Sara Moorhead SC, for UCD, Ms Ashmore was asked about complaints of pain from before the Budapest accident for which investigations had taken place at Beaumont Hospital. Ms Ashmore said she had gone to hospital with symptoms but she was not diagnosed with any illness.

Asked how did she reconcile giving instructions that she had no ill health before the accident , Ms Ashmore said it did not stop her going to work . “I was having investigations but it did not stop my life,” she said.

She added: “There is no doubt in my mind when I lifted that box I felt that pain. I have no doubt it was the box It is the only reason I have not worked.”

Ms Ashmore (57) from Santry, Dublin had sued her employer UCD as a result of the accident on November 16th 2012 when she was working as a corporate relations manager and attended Corvinus University, Budapest, Hungary on behalf of UCD.

She claimed a box full of material was provided which was too heavy for her and allegedly caused injury. She had further claimed failure to adequately or at all notify her of the weight of the box and to provide her with any or any adequate training in the manual handling of loads.

UCD denied the claims and alleged contributory negligence on Ms Ashmore’s part in failing to take account of any hazard represented by the weight or size of the box.

It had further claimed there was failure to simply remove the brochures from the box without having to lift the box.