The High Court has awarded €60,350 to a takeaway worker who injured her back in a fall on a wet cold-room floor, finding the premises’ owner and the operator jointly and severally liable.
In a judgment delivered on 10 December 2018, Ms Justice Bronagh O’Hanlon accepted the plaintiff’s account that she slipped on water from melting ice while stocking a fridge at the takeaway on 27 February 2014. The court found that the accident was reasonably foreseeable and that the defendants had failed to take adequate precautions to protect her while she worked.
The plaintiff said a polystyrene box containing fresh fish had been left in the cold room and liquid had spread across the floor. She maintained that nobody had warned her about the water. The first defendant, Mary Cretaro, said she had told staff not to enter the room because its floor was like a lake. The judge preferred the plaintiff’s evidence.
The court also accepted the evidence of the plaintiff’s engineer, who said a competent risk assessment should have identified the cold room as a potential hazard. He considered the smooth floor unsafe when wet and said slip-resistant flooring or mats should have been provided. The defence engineer described stainless steel as a standard cold-room surface and considered mats or grids unsuitable for hygiene reasons.
A central dispute was whether Cretaro remained responsible for the workplace after leasing the premises to the second defendant, Lucio Patriarca, in February 2014. The plaintiff said she still regarded Cretaro as her boss. Cretaro said Patriarca operated the business and was responsible for the premises. The judge found Cretaro had been in control and that the evidence supported the plaintiff’s understanding of her role. The judgment concluded that both defendants were liable for the accident.
Medical reports described soft-tissue injuries to the plaintiff’s upper back, against a background of degenerative spinal changes. The reports recorded continuing pain and tenderness, and difficulties with household tasks and lifting her granddaughter. They also noted that her heart condition and multiple sclerosis were unrelated to the fall. The court said she remained symptomatic more than four years after the accident.
The court awarded €60,000 in general damages for pain and suffering, including a short period of continuing symptoms, and €350 in special damages. The judgment does not specify a separate apportionment of the award between the defendants.