The High Court awarded Sinead McDonald €97,000 after finding that the operators of a Dublin restaurant and the architects who designed its interior were liable for her fall on steps without a handrail.
In a judgment delivered on 2 November 2012, Mr Justice O’Neill apportioned fault equally between the architects and the two restaurant defendants: 50% to the architects and 50% between the restaurant defendants. He found no contributory negligence by Ms McDonald and said she could recover the full assessed damages.
Ms McDonald was injured at about 11.15pm on 3 October 2009 at Bleu restaurant on Dawson Street, Dublin. She had been seated with friends in an elevated dining area reached by three steps. As she went to join friends outside, her right foot overshot the first step. She fell over a low wall beside the steps and suffered a serious fracture-dislocation of her right ankle.
She alleged that the restaurant defendants were negligent in failing to provide a handrail, adequate lighting and clear step markings. She also alleged that the architects were negligent in designing the interior without those features. The judge found that lack of visibility did not cause the fall: Ms McDonald knew the steps were there and could see them. He said the precise reason her foot overshot was unclear; a higher top step or a momentary lapse in concentration were possible explanations.
The judge concluded that a handrail would have made a misstep less likely and would have prevented the fall from becoming a dangerous fall. He found that the restaurant operators should have foreseen the risk in a busy, dimly lit restaurant, and that the architects could not rely solely on building regulations, which did not require a handrail at this location because there were only three risers.
The award comprised €45,000 for pain and suffering to date, €50,000 for future pain and suffering and €2,000 in agreed special damages. The judgment noted that Ms McDonald continued to experience pain and limited walking tolerance, and that post-traumatic arthritis remained a possibility rather than an established condition.