Claim of ex-flight steward who sues SIA for over $1m dismissed

A former flight steward who sued Singapore Airlines (SIA) for over $1 million, after he claimed to have slipped on a grease patch on board a plane, has had his claim dismissed by the High Court.

Mr Durairaj Santiran, 35, claimed that the fall caused injuries to his spine, leaving him medically unfit to continue working as a flight steward.

The Malaysian also claimed his former employer was negligent for allowing the workplace to be unsafe.

But in a judgment on Oct 18, Justice Vinodh Coomaraswamy said he found that there was, in fact, no slippery area on the floor of the SIA aircraft.

The judge also said he did not accept Mr Durairaj’s claim that SIA had breached the duty of care that it owed to him.

Mr Durairaj claimed he had slipped and fallen on a “patch of grease” on the floor of the economy-class galley during a flight from San Francisco to Singapore on Sept 6, 2019.

He said that he still suffers pain in his back and neck while sitting, standing, walking or running, and that he requires frequent breaks and painkillers to cope with the pain.

Mr Durairaj, who was employed by SIA from April 2016 to April 2021 on a salary of $6,058 a month, now works as a customer care analyst in Malaysia, where he earns RM4,200 (S$1,300) a month.

His claim for damages includes almost $700,000 for loss of future earnings.

In dismissing the claim, the judge said he found that no foreign substance was present on the surface of the galley floor that made it slippery. A reason for this finding was that Mr Durairaj was not a credible witness.

Justice Vinodh said there were several material, self-serving and unexplained variances between what Mr Durairaj said in his statement of claim and the evidence that he gave at the trial.

In his statement of claim, Mr Durairaj said he immediately told the leading stewardess, Ms Christina Chia, about a “grease patch” on the floor of the galley upon discovering it.

He said he attempted to clean it only after Ms Chia instructed him to do so.

But at the trial, he gave a different account. He said he had tried to clean the grease patch using paper hand towels and disinfectant on his own initiative while the plane was still taxiing for take-off – before reporting the issue to Ms Chia.

In his statement of claim, Mr Durairaj also said that despite his best efforts, he could not remove the grease using disinfectant cleaning spray and a paper hand towel.

However, during cross-examination at the trial, Mr Durairaj said he removed the greasy patch, although the surface of the floor was still slippery.

He then told the court a new version of events, saying the slippery area appeared shiny to him but was invisible to everyone else.

However, the judge noted that the other crew members gave evidence that they did not see any grease or other foreign substances on the galley floor at any time during the flight.

He also found that SIA did not breach its duty of care to Mr Durairaj, as there were measures taken to minimise the risk of anyone slipping and falling on board its aircraft.

This included an intensive training programme to teach all new cabin crew members how to identify potential risks of in-flight work accidents and how to prevent them.

In his judgment, Justice Vinodh noted that this was not the first time Mr Durairaj suffered a workplace injury during his employment as a flight steward with SIA.

Besides the injury related to the current claim, Mr Durairaj suffered six other workplace injuries between April 2017 and April 2019.

In April 2017, he injured his back while helping a passenger close an overhead luggage compartment. He filed a claim for compensation and was awarded over $26,000.

In January 2018, he slipped and fell from a staircase while exiting the crew bunk and required surgery. SIA paid for his surgery and he was awarded over $91,000 after filing a compensation claim.

He also bruised the tip of his finger while opening a compartment door and broke his left fingernail while handling a meal cart, which were minor injuries that were resolved without treatment or claim.