Sue your lawyer, judge tells man with hearing loss

V Sundram, who became partly deaf after using a faulty drill, has now lost his appeal for higher damages.

PETALING JAYA: A man rendered partially deaf by a faulty power drill has lost his appeal for a higher quantum of damages than the amount decided by the High Court in 2010.

V Sundrum told FMT today that a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal dismissed his case on Tuesday.

“But the lead judge, Abdul Wahab Patail, was sympathetic to my plight and ordered the refund of my deposit to the court,” he said.

In May 2005, Sundrum bought a MAC 500W impact drill from a Carrefour outlet in Johor Baru.

The drill, certified by the Energy Commission, malfunctioned the following day while Sundrum was using it. The bit detached itself and ricocheted from the wall he was drilling, hitting his face and causing injuries to his left eye and ear.

His eye healed, but Sundrum lost hearing in his left ear and the Welfare Department has certified him as disabled.

He filed a civil suit and won the case against the hypermarket in September 2010, but the High Court awarded only RM10,000 in damages and did not order the defendant to pay the cost of the litigation. Sundrum had sought RM400,000 in damages.

Sundrum, 53, said Abdul Wahab advised him to sue the the lawyer who represented him at the High Court lawyer as he failed to call medical examiners to testify.

“Wahab said that I had a strong case but was badly represented,” he said. “I told the judge that I had lodged a complaint against the lawyer at the Bar Council, but he said it was not enough,” he said.

He told FMT he would heed the judge’s advise and also take his case to Consumer International.

“I have spoken to the Legal Aid Bureau at the Prime Minister’s Office about it. I’m just waiting for the written judgment to be out.”