A woman who claims she was sexually abused by a man who she says worked as a caretaker in a former courthouse building can continue her action for damages against a county council which owned the building, the High Court ruled.
The 36-year-old woman, who says she was abused at various locations including the courthouse, is suing the alleged abuser, the council, and the State. The defendants deny the claims.
She says the alleged abuser was the key holder and caretaker of the courthouse building, which was used for community purposes.
She says he abused her between 1993 and 1999 and the defendants are vicariously liable for his acts.
The council sought to have the case dismissed against it on grounds her pleadings showed no reasonable cause of action against it and was unsustainable in law. The woman opposed this and sought a strikeout of the council's application.
Mr Justice Charles Meenan refused the council's application. He said at this stage of the case, the court is not in a position to make a finding of fact and this can only be made when there is evidence of the extent of caretaking duties and contact between the woman and her alleged abuser.
The judge said the county secretary had sworn that records show the council employed its own caretaker between November 1955 and November 1997. That caretaker died in November 1997, aged 89.
The courthouse was leased in May 1995 to a company in which the alleged abuser was the secretary.
In September 2000, the council formally appointed the man part-time caretaker of the building as he had been doing the job on an ad hoc basis for some time before that and lived nearby.
The council argues he was not employed in any capacity before then by it. If he entered the premises before that, it was without council consent and when he was trespassing, it says.
The woman, who says she followed him to the courthouse out of fear, said it appeared to her he knew no one else would arrive in the building while they were there. She did not believe he was trespassing.
He also assisted the elderly female caretaker until 1997 and covered for her during holidays and on sick days, she says.