Burned by a TV dinner because of Carla Bruni-Sarkozy?
A French court has ordered a Paris clinic to compensate a woman who suffered burns when a ready-made hot meal was set on her lap after she gave birth in 2011. The woman blamed the incident on being deprived of a proper bed due to the presence in the clinic of former first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.
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According to court documents seen by AFP agency on Friday, birth clinic La Muette was ordered to pay 7500 euros in damages and 1500 euros in legal fees to the woman.
The young woman gave birth to her child at the clinic on 21 October 2011, two days after Bruni-Sarkozy gave birth to her and then-president Nicolas Sarkozy's daughter Giulia.
According to the plantiff's statement, due to the presence of Bruni-Sarkozy, the woman "was not able to stay in a room following the birth of her baby.
"Her ready-made meal was served in the delivery room, and, in absence of a table, a midwife placed it directly on her thighs, which were still anesthetised. She suffered second-degree burns on her right thigh."
The clinic's lawyer claims the indicent had nothing to do with the presence of Bruni-Sarkozy, but has not appealed the decision.
The court ruled the woman, "who should have been served a meal on a tray in a bedroom by a person trained to do so, suffered the consequences of a lack of organisation on the part of the clinic".
It added that the woman "did not see a doctor for 24 hours after the incident" even though the burns on an anesthetised appendage "could have been so severe as to require emergency care".
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