Justice Done As Judge Rules Tour Firm Let Down Guests Hit By Salmonella And Cryptosporidium
Published date:
14 Jan 2011
Children among 49 tourists in landmark victory over holiday giant who 'put cash before customer safety'
A judge has handed a landmark victory to 49 holidaymakers who contracted serious illness at a Majorcan hotel after ruling that one of the biggest tour operators in the UK failed to protect their health and safety.
The ruling, followed a ten-day Court trial and is the first time that an English Court has held a tour operator liable for causing Cryptosporidium infections in guests staying at a hotel. The case also sets an important legal precedent recognising a tour operator's duty to warn potential guests about an ongoing outbreak of illness at a hotel and the risk of them falling ill. The decision also means holiday giant TUI UK is liable for the illness of those who fell ill while staying at the island’s three-star Son Baulo Hotel in 2003, with some – including children – contracting the potentially lethal diseases Salmonella and Cryptosporidium.
The court decision was today met with relief by the group, ending a near eight-year fight for justice against the tour operator, owner of major names such as Thomson and First Choice, which had repeatedly denied it was responsible for the problems which affected the guests over a four-month summer period and have left many still suffering ongoing symptoms.
TUI finally accepted it was responsible for the Salmonella cases on the eve of the group’s trial in September but continued to deny liability for the cases of Cryptosporidium, leading to a 10-day trial.
And now, the tourists' expert travel lawyers, from leading firm Irwin Mitchell, are urging TUI to work with them 'quickly and amicably' to agree a settlement and bring the case to a close for the guests, so they can finally put the suffering they endured at the holiday hotel behind them.
The trial judge also aimed strong criticism at TUI after hearing that the holiday firm was aware of the problems at the 251-room hotel in Ca'n Picafort but continued to send families there, only for those guests to fall ill as well, a decision Judge Worster said was ‘probably largely motivated by commercial considerations'.
And commenting on the judgment, Clive Garner, Head of the Travel Law team at Irwin Mitchell, said: “The fact that we represent 49 holidaymakers, including many children , who became ill because of their stays at the hotel in four consecutive months is disturbing enough.
"But what truly beggars belief is that, as the Trial judge himself found, TUI knew there was an issue, knew people were falling very seriously ill, but chose to carry on sending people there knowing that there was a risk they too would end up very ill indeed. The clear conclusion of the Court is that TUI put cash before their customers’ safety."
Among the litany of illnesses suffered by the 49 tourists, many of whom still suffer from ongoing symptoms, were seven confirmed cases of Salmonella, eight guests struck down with Cryptosporidium and three children who contracted both diseases, which can be potentially fatal. One child was rushed to hospital on their return to the UK.
All the holidaymakers who suffered from Cryptosporidium alleged that they became ill after using the hotel swimming pool, with some guests seeing faeces in the pool, while others complained about the way the pool and toilets at the hotel were maintained and cleaned and reported that the food at the hotel was undercooked and served cold.
Experts who gave evidence at the trial criticised the management of hygiene in the pool and said a proper plan for keeping the swimming area clean could have prevented the outbreak from taking place and from ruining so many holidays.
And in his judgment in favour of the claimants, His Honour Judge Worcester, sitting at Birmingham County Court found that "...there were failings in the scope and implementation of the faecal accident policy, and absence of any effective poolside enforcement or monitoring (whether by a lifeguard or otherwise), an inadequate pool maintenance programme, an inadequate system for keeping the poolside and the poolside toilets clean, and a failure to abide by Thomson's or the hotel’s own Guidance. In those respects the hotel was not exercising 'reasonable care and skill' to ensure that people were not infected with cryptosporidium.
"Those measures were all the more necessary given that Thomsons and the hotel knew or should have known of the problem Cryptosporidium presented in a swimming pool, that there was an outbreak on the island and that there was sickness (and as they knew latterly) Cryptosporidium at the hotel."
He continued that "...the problem was compounded by the hotel's lack or proper sickness records and the absence of one person to co-ordinate the measures which needed to be taken."
Among those affected was Carrie Dickens, from Peacehaven, East Sussex, who saw her 13-year-old son George taken seriously ill with gastric symptoms, including severe stomach cramps and sickness during their stay at the Son Baulo in September 2003.
The teenager was so ill that, two days after returning to the UK, he was rushed to Brighton's Children's hospital where he was diagnosed with Cryptosporidium and Salmonella, admitted to hospital and subsequently needed two weeks off school whilst he recovered.
His 35-year-old mum said: "The conditions at the hotel were appalling. The toilets were filthy, the swimming pools had faeces floating in them and meat and egg dishes were undercooked.
"We love going on holiday as a family, but this entire experience is something we have been doing our best to forget over the past seven years. I just wish that the Tour Operator had admitted that they were at fault when we came back from holiday so that we could have avoided the ordeal of having to give evidence at Court. I want TUI UK to do the decent thing and allow us to get closure on this horrendous experience and put it behind us for good."
Clive Garner, who said many clients still suffered long-term health problems such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome due to the illness they suffered, added: "It is deeply frustrating to see that a UK Tour Operator has failed in its duties to its own clients and it is a testament to all of the claimants in this case that they have been persistent in their pursuit for justice.
"Whilst nothing can ever fully make up for the suffering they endured while they were in Majorca, this is a great result for our clients and I am very pleased to see that the Court has fully recognised the need for Tour Operators to take appropriate steps to prevent holidaymakers from contracting serious illnesses including Cryptosporidium and Salmonella."
Garner also criticised the tour operator, "Before the trial, TUI UK denied liability and they repeatedly refused to accept that either themselves or the Hotel management were in anyway to blame, despite the fact that so many guests at the hotel suffered illness during the summer of 2003.
"Our clients were therefore forced to take legal action to obtain fair compensation for their illnesses instead of being able to move on quickly with their lives as they wanted.
"While delighted with the Judgment and their victory at Trial many of our clients question why TUI UK Limited did not agree to pay compensation years earlier, avoiding the need for legal action. TUI will now be required to pay substantial damages to compensate our clients for their illnesses, the financial losses that they have sustained, compensation for their ruined holidays, plus interest on all of these sums plus pay substantial legal costs. The total sums payable would have been significantly lower had TUI accepted our repeated requests for them to admit liability and negotiate settlement of our clients cases with us. We hope that they have learned a valuable lesson."
« Back