The High Court has awarded a Dunnes Stores shelf packer €64,020.63 for injuries after finding that loose stair nosing caused him to fall at work in Limerick in July 2013. Mr Justice Barr found the store had failed to provide a safe means of access to and from the plaintiff’s workplace. He made no finding of contributory negligence.
The plaintiff said his heel caught on raised nosing as he descended staff stairs after his shift, causing him to fall down the remaining steps. The store’s security manager inspected the stairs the next morning and found a gap of about two inches between the nosing and the step. He placed safety tape on it, and repairs were later carried out.
The judge accepted the plaintiff’s account and found the loose, raised nosing was a danger to staff using the stairs. He accepted engineering evidence that monthly checks were inadequate given the risk once nosing became loose. The defendant had pleaded that the plaintiff was using his mobile phone, but no witness had seen the fall. The judge found the allegation was not established. Evidence was unclear on whether the plaintiff held the banister; the judge said that even if he had not, this did not amount to contributory negligence on the short flight of stairs.
The plaintiff reported ongoing neck, right shoulder and lower back pain. He was off work for about four months and later reduced his hours from around 20 a week to about 15, according to his evidence. He described difficulty with heavy grocery work and walking, and said pain sometimes disrupted his sleep. Medical evidence recorded pre-existing degenerative changes in his spine. The judge preferred the evidence of Dr Aideen Henry, who considered the fall had aggravated those changes and made the plaintiff’s previously asymptomatic lower back and shoulder symptomatic.
The award comprised €50,000 for pain and suffering to date, €10,000 for future pain and suffering and agreed special damages of €4,020.63. The judge said the future course was uncertain because the plaintiff’s injection treatment was ongoing and its duration and likely success were not known. The judgment records the damages award and the court’s liability findings.