A District Court judge has refused an application from multi-billion euro retailer Aldi not to identify the firm in a case where two children fell sick after consuming a contaminated custard yogurt purchased at an Aldi store.
At Ennis District Court, Judge Patrick Durcan refused the application by Aldi for the firm not to be named in the case commenting that the application was “the kind of argument that Mr Volkswagen would love to hear”.
In the case before Ennis court, Chloe Connors (9) and her sister, Julie Connors (8) fell ill in November 2013 after consuming a pot of custard dessert bought at Aldi’s Ennis store, Co Clare.
The two were suing Aldi Stores Ireland Ltd and Ldh (La Doria) Ltd.
Solicitor for the two, James Shanahan, told the court that Chloe Connors “fell violently ill” after consuming the custard dessert bought at Aldi and vomited three or four times during the night.
He said lab tests of the yogurt detected a mould pellicle in the liquid.
The judge approved a joint Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) pay-out to the two of €4,374 including costs.
Approving the pay-out — made up of two €1,500 to each child plus costs — the judge described the offer as “most generous” and said that the two “were doing very well in the circumstances”.
However, he refused an application from counsel for Aldi, Niamh O’Donnabhain BL not to name the retailer in the case.
Ms O’Donnabhain said: “In this case, liability between the first and second named defendant is a live issue and as a result of that, I would plead that there wouldn’t be any publication in the matter.”
She said that in this case, “liability has not been dealt with — it is an assessment”.
In reply, the judge said there is a constitutional imperative that justice be administered in public.
Ms O’Donnabhain said that balance favours that there wouldn’t be any untoward prejudice in the case
She said: “I would submit to the court there need not be any other adverse consequences as a result of publication.”
In response to the judge’s comparison with the Volkswagen scandal, she said: “On Volkswagen — there is a very different factual matrix in relation to the liability in that case, liability could not be disputed or defended in that case.”
The judge ruled that the retailer could be named.
Last year, the German retailer in Ireland and the UK alone generated revenues of £6.89bn (£9.55bn) and recorded pre-tax profits of £250.6m (€347.2m) and announced this week that it is to employ an additional 400 here as the retailer continues its expansion in Ireland.
