A Nando's waitress whose skin melted off in a horror accident while she was emptying a bottle of cleaning detergent has won a payout after suing the chain.
Mairi Espie needed hospital treatment and has been permanently scarred by the burn while cleaning at the peri-peri chicken chain's branch in Dundee in December 2019.
The corrosive detergent burned through the 21-year-old's jeans, melting the skin on her left thigh, as she decanted it during her shift.
Mairie was rushed to A&E and needed specialist skin treatment, but the burn has still left a three-inch sore, the Daily Record reports.
Nando's have now agreed to pay Mairi an undisclosed amount of money after she sued the company, claiming she was never given a special apron or gloves and staff were "just kind of expected to crack on".
Mairi, who graduated from Abertay University last year with a degree in criminology, said however that the case, to her, was never about the money.
"It shouldn’t have needed to go as far as a legal action but at the same time I also shouldn’t have been burned in the first place," she said following the settlement.
"This was never about the money for me, just recognition, because at the time it felt like people didn’t believe it was that bad or anything was wrong.
"But to be fair to Nando’s I think they’ve now done the right thing – they settled the case pretty quickly, the staff have been supportive and the issues that led to me getting hurt seem to have been addressed now so hopefully it means others will be safe too.
"I’m glad things are over now and I can just focus on getting on with things."
After the accident Mairi went to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, 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.
Simon Hammond, partner at law firm Digby Brown which helped Mairi with the claim, said: "Mairi was only in contact with this industrial cleaner fluid for a short time so the extent of her burns shows you just how corrosive that substance is – and how much worse it could have been.
"We are happy to have helped Mairi get the recognition she wanted and we hope the successful end to her case sends an important reminder to employers everywhere to not be complacent on staff safety."
