The Appellant sued the Respondent/Cross-Appellant in the High Court of Cross River State, Ugep Division claiming general damages for negligence in the work place which resulted in the loss of one of his eyes.
The trial Court gave judgment in favour of the Appellant and awarded one million naira (N1,000,000) damages against the impendent. The Respondent appealed to the Court of Appeal, Calabar Division which allowed the appeal in part and reduced the quantum of damages to N500,000. Dissatisfied with the reduction in the quantum of damages awarded the Appellant has appealed to this Court. The Respondent/Cross-Appellant was also aggrieved by the decision of the Court of Appeal affirming the judgment of the High Court and cross-appealed to this Court.
The learned Counsel for the Appellant formulated one issue for determination as follows:
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"Whether it was proper for the Court of Appeal to reduce the quantum of general damages awarded the Plaintiff/Appellant from N1 million to N500,000.00? "
The learned Counsel for the Respondent/Cross-Appellant also filed a brief and adopted the issue raised by the Appellant. The facts of the case are relatively simple. The Appellant was employed as a fork-lift operator in the Respondent's company. On the 27th of April 1996, the Appellant was involved in an industrial accident which led to the complete perforation of his right eye. The Respondent bore all the expenses for the treatment of the Appellant but refused to pay him any compensation for the loss of his eye. The Appellant's appointment was terminated by the Respondent and the Appellant then sued the Respondent claiming damages for negligence.
Appellant testified on his own behalf and called a medical doctor to testify on the extent of the damage to his eye. The Respondent called its Accountant who knew next to nothing about how the injury to the Respondent arose to testify on its behalf. The trial Court gave judgment in favour of the Appellant and awarded one million naira (N1,000.000) damages against the Respondent. The Respondent appealed to the Court of Appeal, Calabar Division, which allowed the appeal in part and reduced the quantum of damages to N500,000. Dissatisfied with the reduction in the quantum of damages awarded, the Appellant appealed to the Supreme Court. The Respondent/Cross-Appellant was also aggrieved by the decision of the Court of Appeal affirming the judgment of the High Court and filed a cross-appeal.
