Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Tanning salon appeal thrown out by sheriff
A Dundee tanning salon ordered to pay out more than £240,000 to a dance student who suffered tinnitus due to fire alarms going off, has failed to overturn the decision.
Haesel McDonald worked parttime in an Indigo Sun salon in Strathmartine Road.
Her hearing was damaged after fire alarms in the shop sounded for nearly four hours on December 12 2015, when she was 19.
Manager Steven Campbell told her to stay on duty after using tape to try to muffle the alarms.
She finished her shift but later suffered from headaches and tinnitus and hearing difficulty.
Experts said she was exposed to 87.5-82.3 decibels.
She moved back to her home in Inverness and consulted doctors in 2016 before it was confirmed she would need hearing aids.
Ms McDonald graduated with first class honours but abandoned dance as a career due to loss of confidence.
She sued Indigo Sun, claiming she suffered loss, injury and damage through their negligence.
The court heard she will need hearing aids costing £3,999 and replaced every three years.
Indigo Sun argued there was no breach of duty but Sheriff John Mundy ruled she should be awarded £241,277 in damages.
Salon bosses appealed, claiming there was no breach of duty and her tinnitus and hearing loss had not been caused by events that day.
Lawyers argued against the sheriff’s quantification of loss, particularly in relation to the cost of hearing aids.
In a written judgment, Sheriff Principal Mhairi Stephen QC upheld Sheriff Mundy’s decision.
She wrote: “We are satisfied that the sheriff fulfilled his function to assess what was fair and reasonable compensation given Ms McDonald’s age, loss and circumstances leading to an award of damages which can be justified on the material available to him.
“The appeal has been refused on all grounds advanced by the appellant who shall be liable to the respondent in expenses of the appeal as taxed. The appeal merits sanction for the employment of counsel.”
Sheriff Mundy concluded the manager was negligent in keeping Ms McDonald in the premises.
The sheriff said the history and development of Ms McDonald’s symptoms were consistent with there being a causal link between the exposure and hearing damage.
Sheriff Mundy wrote: “It is more likely than not that as a result of the exposure to noise on 12 December 2015, within the defender’s premises, the pursuer developed tinnitus and associated moderate to severe high frequency sensorineural hearing loss in both ears.
“The recovery in damages of the cost of private hearing aids for day-to-day use and use during vigorous physical activity for the purpose of the pursuer’s future career and participation in dance is reasonable.”