Nando’s waitress, 21, whose thigh skin ‘melted off’ when she was splashed by cleaning fluid during a shift wins compensation from the fast food giant
- Mairi Espie, 21, was injured in December 2019 at Nando’s in Nethergate, Dundee
- The corrosive cleaning product left a three-inch sore and she was hospitalised
A waitress has won compensation after being scarred when cleaning fluid ‘melted’ her skin during a shift at a Nando’s restaurant.
Mairi Espie, 21, needed specialist treatment after the corrosive liquid soaked through her clothes while she was emptying a container at the venue in Dundee, Angus, in December 2019.
Bosses at the fast-food giant have now agreed to pay her an undisclosed sum after the case was brought to the national personal injury court.
Ms Espie, who still works for Nando’s, has been left with a permanent scar on her thigh but stressed her decision to sue was ‘never about the money’.
She said: ‘I’m glad things are over and I can focus on getting on with things.’
Speaking about the burn, waitress Mairi Espie – who graduated from Abertay University in July last year – said it ‘was so painful’ and ‘took months to heal’. She added: ‘It’s the scarring that upset me the most’
Ms Espie, 21, said she was left with a three-inch sore that needed hospital treatment after being splashed with corrosive cleaning product when working at Nando’s in Nethergate, Dundee
Speaking last November about the traumatic incident, Ms Espie said: ‘It was absolute agony – it felt like my leg was on fire. I’m now left with a permanent scar in a really prominent place on my body.
‘The burn was so painful. It took months to heal properly but it’s the scarring that upset me the most.
‘I’ve got scars on both my legs due to the splash going everywhere but it’s the right thigh that’s the worst.
She added: ‘It makes me feel so nervous to wear shorts or skirts.’
Ms Espie’s injury happened in December 2019 at the Nando’s restaurant in Nethergate, Dundee.
She was tasked with changing the detergent for the dishwasher but when she removed the old bottle from the appliance, it splashed her.
The heavy duty cleaner soaked through her jeans and melted her skin – leaving a three-inch sore that needed hospital treatment.
The 21-year-old Scottish waitress said: ‘I’m now left with a permanent scar in a really prominent place on my body’
Ms Espie went to Ninewells Hospital where medics provided a specialist washing treatment to remove the detergent. She was then bandaged and had to recover at home for more than a week.
The 21-year-old, who graduated from Abertay University in July with a degree in criminology, said: ‘I wasn’t given any special apron or gloves or anything – we were just kind of expected to crack on.
‘A legal action is not something I wanted to do but I felt I didn’t have a choice because after it all happened I felt like Nando’s just fobbed me off like it was nothing.’
A spokesman for Nando’s said: ‘We have nothing to add at this stage.’
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