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

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 Kevin Keegan 20 per cent liable, in relation to the accident at Dunnes' Clondalkin branch in October 2013.

The judge said Mr Keegan, a 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.

Mr Keegan, Corbally Park, Tallaght, 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 Mr Keegan 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 Mr Keegan 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.

The judge granted a stay in the event of an appeal providing €15,000 was paid out immediately by Dunnes Stores.