An Irish court dismissed a woman’s $820,000 insurance claim after a photograph surfaced of her winning a contest where participants hurled Christmas trees. Kamila Grabska, 36, asserted that a car accident in 2017 resulted in incapacitating pain. She had claimed that she could no longer lift a heavy bag without suffering shooting pain. Grabska quit her job and received disability payments, the court heard.
Her legal claim against the insurance company was for the loss of past and future earnings, with Grabksa saying she could not leave her bed for up to half a day. She told her husband that she had to bring her medication.
Grabska reported chronic pain in her back, neck, and thoracic spine, rendering her incapable of performing household chores, carrying groceries, or engaging in play with her children. She filed a lawsuit against RSA Insurance, claiming over $542,000 for lost earnings over five years.
However, her case unraveled when a photo emerged nearly a year post-accident, depicting Grabska triumphing in a Christmas tree-throwing competition in Ennis, Ireland. The competition, reminiscent of lumberjack contests, awards victory to whoever hurls the tree the farthest.
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In the image, Grabska, adorned in a yellow jacket, is seen vigorously tossing the tree, with a subsequent photo showing her beaming while clutching a certificate affirming her championship. During court proceedings, when she was cross-examined, Grabska said she still felt pain when she threw the Christmas tree and smiled in photos because she was trying to “live a normal life,” the Irish Independent reported.
But Judge Carmel Stewart, who presided over the case, said she had no choice but to dismiss the claim because of the “very graphic picture” of Grabska throwing the Christmas tree, which was “at odds” with the medical evidence provided. “I’m afraid I cannot but conclude the claims were entirely exaggerated,” she said, “On that basis, I propose to dismiss the claim.”
“It is a huge, natural Christmas tree, and she is throwing it in a very agile movement,” the judge was reported as saying in court by the Irish Independent newspaper.
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She also considered a video from last November showing Grabska play-wrestling with a big Dalmatian dog for up to 1.5 hours, according to the paper. The Telegraph reported that the footage was taken in November 2023.
The Courts Service of Ireland confirmed the dismissal of Grabska’s case without providing additional details. NBC News sought statements from RSA Insurance and Grabska’s legal representatives. The law firm representing Grabska didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Louise Smith of RDJ LLP, acting for RSA Insurance in the defense, told Business Insider by email that an open-source intelligence report was procured after they became suspicious about Grabska’s claims.
The court had previously been told that the married mother-of-two, from Ennis in Co Clare, had spoken to doctors days after winning the Christmas tree-throwing contest.
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