A garda who claimed he had been injured as a result of bullying by superiors has settled his €38,000 damages claim for an undisclosed sum.
Garda Harry O'Mahony of The Close, Hunter's Run, Clonee, Co Dublin, told Judge John O'Hagan in the Circuit Civil Court today he was ordered to move heavy furniture as a "punishment detail".
He told the court he had at first been directed to move it on a trolley from first floor level to ground floor level. Then he had been ordered to move it back up to another level.
"It was a punishment detail," he told Judge O'Hagan. "When I moved it one place I was told to move it somewhere else. I injured my neck and damaged a pre-existing groin strain because of it."
Garda O'Mahony said that because of personality clashes with his superiors at Garda Headquarters, Phoenix Park, Dublin, he was bullied from time to time.
When he injured himself on August 25th, 1998, he had been given no assistant and had never been given training or instruction in moving or lifting heavy and awkward articles.
Garda O'Mahony, who fits radios to police motor bikes, said that a superior officer had bullied him at work and had tried to bully him into dropping his damages claim. He was suing the Minister for Justice and the Garda Commissioner.
"When he ordered me to move the furniture from one location to another he told me he was going to get me," Garda O'Mahony said.
Judge O'Hagan said Garda O'Mahony had not brought an action for harrassment or bullying at work. His claim was for damages for personal injury as a result of moving heavy furniture.
Following a brief adjournment, Judge O'Hagan was told the case had been settled and could be struck out. The amount of the settlement was not disclosed in court.