Dunnes Stores have been found liable for an injury to a pensioner at a hearing into her injury claim for a trip and fall in a shop at the High Court in Cork.
On 2nd July 2013, Bernadette O´Leary (77) was shopping in the Dunnes Stores in Clonakilty in Cork, hoping to find a waterproof canopy to cover her stall at the weekly farmers market where she sells homemade cakes and other food items.
Having found a gazebo that she thought may be suitable, Bernadette asked a shop assistant if the canopy was waterproof. The shop assistant said that he would find out, and told Bernadette to follow him as he walked off to find a colleague.
As Bernadette followed the shop assistant into the next aisle, she tripped over a fold-away deckchair that had been left in the aisle waiting to be positioned on a shelf. Bernadette fell awkwardly and broke her hip when she landed on the floor.
An ambulance was summoned, and Bernadette was taken to hospital – where she spent forty-eight hours on a trolley until a bed became available. After being discharged, Bernadette sought legal advice and made an injury claim for a trip and fall in a shop.
In her claim, Bernadette alleged that Dunnes Stores was in breach of its own safety statement which read that goods should not be left in an aisle to form a risk to safety. However, Dunnes denied liability for Bernadette´s injury and argued that she should have looked where she was going.
The injury claim for a trip and fall in a shop went to the High Court in Cork, where it was heard by Mr Justice Henry Abbot. After reviewing a CCTV video of the accident and hearing arguments from both sides, the judge found that Dunnes Stores were liable for Bernadette´s injury.
Agreeing with Bernadette´s counsel that “the defendant had invited the plaintiff into the path of a hazard on which she fell and was injured”, Mr Justice Henry Abbot awarded Bernadette €137,000 compensation in settlement of her injury claim for a trip and fall in a shop.