A customer, who slipped on a discarded baby wipe in the Dublin branch of Argos and damaged his shoulder when he fell, has been awarded 17,500 Euros in compensation for an injury in Argos at the Circuit Civil Court.
Declan Conroy from Dublin had been shopping at the Ilac Centre branch of Argos on Henry Street in May 2008 when his injury was sustained. While in the queue for the counter to order a lawnmower for his mother, he slipped on a discarded baby wipe and fell – injuring his shoulder in the process.
Once he had received medical attention, Declan made a compensation claim for an injury in Argos against the store – claiming that their system of monitoring the store for potential slipping hazards was inadequate and he had suffered an injury as a consequence.
Argos refused to accept liability for Declan´s injury; claiming that CCTV footage showed the presence of the baby wipe just six minutes before Declan´s accident and contending that employees could not possibly be required to constantly monitor the floor for slip hazards in a historically low-risk store.
When the claim went to court, Judge Jacqueline Linnane heard a forensic witness – appearing on Declan´s behalf – testify that, because of the extra footfall in the queuing area, a greater level of watchfulness should be applied. It was also revealed in court that five minutes before the baby wipe was first seen on camera, CCTV footage recorded a woman pushing a baby buggy through the area where Declan slipped.
Judge Jacqueline Linnane determined that, on the balance of probabilities, it was the woman with the baby buggy who was responsible for dropping the baby wipe and, as more than ten minutes would have passed between the baby wipe being present on the floor and Declan sustaining his shoulder injury, she was finding Argos liable. She awarded Declan 17,500 Euros compensation for an injury in Argos injury plus costs.