Beauty therapists Jayne Evans, 40, and Michelle Hindmarch, 35, each developed chronic muscular strain – including pain in their shoulders, upper back and wrists – after giving intensive shiatsu massages at the airline’s Terminal 3 “Clubhouse” lounge at Heathrow.
Their barrister, Theodore Huckle, told the High Court that both women were “devastated” at being forced to abandon their careers as a result of their injuries.
Muscular aches and pains mean the women cannot carry out a range of household tasks including peeling carrots or “taking the Sunday roast out of the oven”, the court heard.
Mrs Evans, who still works for Virgin Atlantic on the administrative side, is seeking £327,000 compensation from the airline for exposing her to the risk of injury, while Mrs Hindmarch is claiming £235,000 in damages.
Virgin Atlantic do not dispute liability for the two women’s injuries, but are contesting the amount of compensation due to them and the extent of their injuries.
Their symptoms, the court was told, were caused by working overlong shifts, and by using shiatsu pressure-point techniques “with heavy pressure and at fast pace”.
Most of their customers – who were always clothed so no could be lubricating oils used – were men who required heavier hand and finger pressure “involving particular strain on the thumbs”.
Mrs Evans “became distressed and was sent home” after a particularly strenuous session in October 2005 in which a “large male client” asked her to massage even harder than usual.
An attempt was made to restrict the number of massages to two per hour when therapists complained of their symptoms but the respite was short-lived.
Mrs Hindmarch claimed that there were insufficient breaks between long therapy sessions, and that the main “determinant” of work pressure was flight scheduling.
Mrs Evans told the court that the loss of her career had affected her emotionally and dented her confidence.
“I always wanted to be a beauty therapist,” she told the court, adding: “It’s what I trained for when I left school and I wanted to pursue that career”.
Although her pain has improved the weakness in Mrs Evans’s wrists also makes it hard to slice up vegetables or even “pull on a pair of jeans”, she said.
Judge Martin McKenna has reserved his ruling in the case and will give his decision at a later date.
In October 2005 Elizabeth King, a former beauty therapist who also worked at the Virgin Atlantic’s Heathrow Clubhouse lounge, was awarded £100,000 after developing RSI.
The firm has also paid £26,000 in an out-of-court settlement to another injured beauty therapist, Emily Rimmer.
A spokesman for Virgin Atlantic Airways said: "VAA is aware of the current cases proceeding at Court. The health and safety of our staff is always our top priority. We will continue to assist the court on this matter and remain confident that the final determination will be satisfactory to all parties involved".
