An elderly woman´s claim for a slip and fall accident in a Superquinn car park has been resolved during a High Court hearing to establish liability.
Seventy-two year old Mary Parnell was visiting the Superquinn supermarket in Finglas, Dublin, on 29th November 2011 when she slipped and fell while making her way across the car park towards the supermarket entrance.
Mary – who was holding a handbag in one hand and an umbrella in another – dislocated her shoulder when she fell; an injury that allegedly prevented her being able to hold her grandchildren or swim in her son´s pool when she subsequently visited Australia.
After seeking legal advice, Mary made a claim for a slip and fall accident in a Superquinn car park, alleging that the reason she had slipped was because the surface of the car park had recently been painted and she had slipped on some wet paint.
The parties against whom Mary made the claim – Superquinn Ltd and the two companies responsible for carrying out work in the car park at the time – denied their liability for Mary´s accident and injury and refused their consent for the Injuries Board to conduct an assessment.
Mary was issued with an authorisation by the Injuries Board to pursue her claim through the courts, and the case was recently heard by Mr Justice Michael Hanna at the High Court in Dublin.
At the hearing, Judge Hanna heard Mary´s allegations that there had been a failure by the defendants to cordon off the recently painted area of the car park or erect a sign warning of the risk of slipping. Had a warning sign been present, Mary told Judge Hanna, she would not have walked across that part of the car park.
The judge also heard that the 29th November 2011 had been a very wet day and the defendants claimed that Mary´s accident was not due to their negligence, but her own lack of care. The judge adjourned the hearing in order that talks could take place between the two parties and, on their return, was told that the claim for a slip and fall accident in a Superquinn car park had been resolved and the case could be struck out.