The High Court has awarded a Dunnes Stores worker €65,246 after finding the company liable for injuries caused when glass fell from a hot deli counter at its Ongar Village premises in Clonee in June 2011.
The judgment says the plaintiff was cleaning a glass panel when it slipped from its rubber surround. She tried to catch it, straining her left shoulder, and the glass landed on her left ankle. The court found the rubber surround had degraded and that Dunnes Stores knew of the problem before the accident. A similar incident had injured another staff member in April 2011, but the equipment had not been made safe.
The defendant had initially denied liability and pleaded contributory negligence. On the morning of the hearing, its counsel said the company would not cross-examine the plaintiff or her engineer on liability, but did not formally concede it. The judge found liability rested with the company. He declined the plaintiff’s request for additional damages to reflect the stress of facing litigation while liability was disputed, saying defendants should be encouraged to narrow issues before trial.
The plaintiff suffered a partial tear to a ligament in her left ankle, a shoulder injury and a depressive adjustment reaction. She was unable to work for about six months and later returned to Dunnes Stores. The judgment also recounts several subsequent workplace incidents and a panic attack in February 2013, after which she did not return to work there. She later found other employment.
The plaintiff said her injuries and mental health difficulties contributed to the end of her engagement in 2013. Her psychiatrist supported that view, describing the original accident as a trigger in a chain of events. The judge ruled that the evidence was insufficient to link the accident to the breakup. He noted that the former fiancé had not given evidence and declined to award damages for the relationship’s end.
By the time of the hearing, the court found her psychiatric problems had improved and she had not needed medication or counselling in the previous year. She still reported ankle pain, including when driving for more than an hour, and could no longer run or wear high heels. The judge awarded €45,000 for general damages to date, €15,000 for continuing disability and €5,246 in agreed special damages, making a total of €65,246.