*Dromoland Castle.
A KITCHEN porter who told his doctor that he avoided heavy work like hoovering after a fall from a height at the five-star Dromoland Castle resort has been found guilty of making a false personal injuries claim.
In the trial at Ennis Circuit Court, a jury took just 24 minutes to find Emilian Jaskowiak (40) guilty of giving false or misleading evidence in a personal injuries action against the operators of five-star Dromoland Castle in Newmarket-on-Fergus.
In his personal injuries action against Dromoland Castle Holdings Ltd, Mr Jaskowiak claimed that he sustained injuries in a fall from a height in the kitchen of the Fig Tree restaurant located at Dromoland Golf Club House at the Co Clare hotel resort on January 20th 2022.
However, no independent witness working in the kitchen saw or heard Mr Jaskowiak of Carrowmeer, Newmarket On Fergus, Co Clare fall resulting in the hotel’s insurers, Aviva Insurance making a complaint to Gardaí over the personal injuries claim.
Mr Jaskowiak says that he sustained the fall on his first day of work at the Dromoland Castle resort.
As part of his claim, Mr Jaskowiak was seeking damages from Dromoland Castle and the circuit court ceiling for such a personal injury claim rises to €60,000.
At the start of the three-day trial, Mr Jaśkowiak pleaded not guilty to the offence of giving false or misleading evidence on May 5th 2023 in a personal injuries action, contrary to the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004.
In his claim, Mr Jaśkowiak claimed that he sustained injuries when he used a chair to climb on top of an oven to enable him clean the overhead hood.
He stated that as he was descending onto the chair, he lost his footing and fell to the kitchen floor.
Senior Investigator with Aviva, Cuan MacConnell told the court in evidence that Mr Jaskowiak attended his doctor on January 25th 2022 as a result of the fall.
Mr MacConnell told the court that the doctor’s report stated that Mr Jaskowiak gave a history of having a pain in his left shin and his right rib cage arising from the fall.
Mr MacConnell said that the doctor’s report also records “we also noticed a marked tremor in both hands. Mr Jaskowiak said that this was not present before the fall. For this reason, Mr Jaskowiak was sent to A&E for an assessment for head injury”.
In the medical report dated March 14th 2022, on the progress made by Mr Jaskowiak, it stated that his left shin has recovered after a number of weeks and rib injury settled after four weeks.
The medical report found that Mr Jaskowiak’s tremor was improving but was still recurring.
On the impact on Mr Jaskowiak’s daily life, he told that his doctor that “he has not worked since the accident. He spends his day at home watching TV and he does take his dog for a walk and makes some light chores around the house and makes dinner for his wife who is working”.
The report added, “He avoids any heavy work like hoovering and feels that he is 40 percent better now.”
Mr MacConnell told the court that on the prognosis for Mr Jaskowiak, the doctor said that he “has had a resting tremor since the fall. I feel that this may be a stress reaction so he may benefit from some counselling in time”.
Mr Jaśkowiak subsequently made a full recovery.
Mr MacConnell told the court, “We had concerns that none of the staff appeared to see or hear the fall in a small kitchen”.
Mr MacConnell said that Mr Jaskowiak’s solicitors for the personal injury claim came off record in July 2025 after he was charged and arrested in connection with making the false claim as they believed it better that his solicitors handling the criminal case should also handle his civil claim.
Mr MacConnell said that the civil claim against Dromoland Castle “remains stagnant”.
Judge Francis Comerford has remanded Mr Jaśkowiak on bail to a date later this month to fix a date for sentence.
Commenting on the outcome, Rob Smyth, Head of Investigations and Fraud at Aviva Insurance Ireland DAC said on Tuesday, “Aviva Insurance Ireland DAC (Aviva) is committed to tackling insurance fraud and protecting customers”.
He said, “We acknowledge the efforts of An Garda Síochána in bringing this case before the courts and welcome the outcome. Insurance fraud has wider implications for customers and the insurance industry, and we will continue to investigate and challenge fraudulent claims”.
