Worker who injured foot in storeroom fall awarded €36,000

High Court finds Dunnes Stores 80% liable after cleaner tripped on shrink wrapping

Fri, Mar 3, 2017, Irish Times
 

The judge said the shrink wrapping had been cut away by another employee who left it strewn on the floor and Dunnes was liable for the negligence of that employee.
 

A cleaner who fractured his foot after tripping on shrink wrapping around a pallet after taking pizzas out of a freezer at Dunnes Stores has been awarded €36,000 damages by the High Court.

Mr Justice Anthony Barr found Dunnes 80 per cent liable, and the Plaintiff 20 per cent liable, in relation to the accident at Dunnes in October 2013.

The judge said the duty cleaner in the store, was directed by his manager to go to the freezer in the storeroom and get boxes of pizzas.

Having got the boxes, he was stepping off a pallet when he tripped and fell to the ground.

The worker, sued Dunnes Stores as a result of the accident in which he fractured a bone in his right foot.

He claimed the shrink wrapping was removed from the products on the pallets and was left on the floor of the freezer when it should have been disposed of.

Dunnes accepted the accident occurred in the manner described but contended he was specifically trained to carry out an assessment of any area in which he was required to work. Had he done so, he would have seen the shrink wrapping and removed it, it pleaded.

Strewn on floor

Mr Justice Barr said the shrink wrapping had been cut away by another employee who negligently left it strewn on the floor.

He said Dunnes was liable for the negligence of that employee in leaving the area in an unsafe condition.

While finding Dunnes must bear primary liability for causation of the accident, the judge assessed contributory negligence on behalf of his employee at 20 per cent over his failure to heed the presence of the shrink wrapping on the ground before stepping on to the pallet.

As a result, the total award was reduced from €45,400 to €36,320.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/high-court/worker-who-injured-foot-in-storeroom-fall-awarded-36-000-1.2997315