A shop worker has been awarded in excess of €24,000 store room accident compensation against her employer after falling over the open flap of a clothes box in the store that she was working in.
Ms Smiths legal counsel, Barrister John Nolan appearing with Kent Carty Solicitors, told the Circuit Court that Ms Smith had damaged her shoulders and back in the accident that happened in the store during November 2015. His client said that the storeroom at the Vera Moda shop in the Pavilion Shopping Centre, Swords, had been over packed untidily with boxes. Ms Smith (28) said she had been moving stock from a store room when her knee hit off the flap of a box, causing her to suffer a big fall. She was inflicted with injuries to her neck and both shoulders and her back and had a soft tissue injury to her wrist after having made an attempt to break her fall with her hands.
Aisling Smith, of Woodlawn Way, Santry, Dublin 17 was informed by Circuit Court President Mr Justice Raymond Groarke that, due to contributory negligence, he was reducing her personal injury compensation award to just over €19,000 as she had not been maintaining an adequate look-out in the Vera Moda store.
Judge Groarke awarded Ms Smith a total of €22,500 store room compensation but cut the personal injury compensation award to €19,125 due to the aforementioned contributory negligence. He remarked that she had been employed at the store for a long enough period of time that should have seen to it that she was aware of the importance of keeping a proper look-out and been more careful in relation to her own safety.
He said that proof provided by consultant forensic engineer Barry Tennyson, who had completed an examination of the stock room, indicated that the defendant had put a big effort into tidying up the store before the joint engineering inspection. Judge Groarke said the stock room had been kept in a rather messy manner.
Ms Smith told the court that a stock box had been moved out from a safe position against the wall and was left with one of its flaps lying open and causing an obstruction. A store room accident compensation award of €2,000 for loss of earnings was incorporated into her final compensation award.