Restaurant owner and two workers ordered to jointly compensate victims after criminal conviction linked to chemical burns in passageway
Al Ain: The Al Ain Court for Civil, Commercial and Administrative Cases has ordered a restaurant owner and two workers to jointly pay Dh50,000 in compensation to two men who suffered chemical burns while passing through a rear corridor used by the restaurant.
The court also ordered the defendants to pay legal expenses and Dh300 in lawyers’ fees.
According to court records, the two men filed a civil claim seeking Dh300,000 in compensation, including Dh200,000 for the first claimant and Dh100,000 for the second, for material and moral damages they said resulted from the incident.
The claimants stated that they suffered severe burns after being exposed to a highly hazardous chemical substance used to open drainage pipes. The substance had been used by the defendants while cleaning a rear passageway of the restaurant.
According to the lawsuit, the men slipped while passing through the area, which they considered an exit route from the building where they lived, causing the chemical substance to come into contact with their bodies.
A criminal court had previously convicted the defendants in connection with the incident, while the defendants sought dismissal of the civil claim.
In its reasoning, the court said the final criminal judgment had conclusively established the occurrence of the act that formed the basis of both the criminal and civil proceedings, as well as the legal characterisation of the act and the responsibility of those who committed it.
The court said it was bound by the findings of the criminal judgment and could not re-examine or contradict them.
It also referred to a forensic medical report, which found that the first claimant suffered skin disfigurement affecting the left upper limb, back, right side of the body and both lower limbs as a result of the accident and subsequent medical and surgical treatment.
The report also found that the second claimant suffered skin disfigurement affecting both upper and lower limbs as a result of the chemical burns and subsequent treatment.
The court ruled that the defendants were jointly liable for the damages and ordered them to pay Dh30,000 to the first claimant and Dh20,000 to the second claimant.
It also ordered the defendants to pay legal expenses and Dh300 in lawyers’ fees.
Source: Emirates 24|7