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The High Court recently considered the duty on bars and nightclubs to maintain clean bathrooms and dry floors in a personal injuries claim by Sharon Kelly against The Arc Café Bar.Sharon Kelly alleged that she slipped and fell outside the ladies bathrooms in the Arc Bar on the 29 May 2011. She dislocated her right thumb and suffered injury to her neck.She claimed that the bar failed to ensure that the bathrooms were kept clean and dry. She further claimed that the bar staf...
The High Court recently considered the duty on bars and nightclubs to maintain clean bathrooms and dry floors in a personal injuries claim by Sharon Kelly against The Arc Café Bar.
Sharon Kelly alleged that she slipped and fell outside the ladies bathrooms in the Arc Bar on the 29 May 2011. She dislocated her right thumb and suffered injury to her neck.
She claimed that the bar failed to ensure that the bathrooms were kept clean and dry. She further claimed that the bar staff failed to react to complaints made by herself, her friends and her family earlier in the night about the condition of the bathrooms and the area where she had slipped.
The bar manager, a barmaid, the owner of the premises and security staff all gave evidence that a strict cleaning system was in place to ensure that all floors were clean and dry. They also submitted that the floor in the area where Ms Kelly slipped was dry at the time she fell.
The incident was captured on CCTV and the court was satisfied from the footage that Ms Kelly fell vertically down in one sudden movement, which meant that she must have slipped rather than tripped.
Mr Justice Barr held that, while the bar had cleaning systems in place, because it was so busy on the night in question, it was likely that the staff were too busy to take sufficient care.
He held that, because complaints had been made about the condition of the ladies toilet and the parquet floor prior to Ms Kelly’s fall, the bar failed to take care for the safety of Ms Kelly.
He found that there was no contributory negligence on the part of Ms Kelly. He stated that people cannot be expected to look at the floor when walking across a bar and are entitled to expect that it is dry and safe.
Ms Kelly was awarded €90,588 in damages.
This decision highlights the onus on occupiers of premises to take all necessary steps to ensure the safety of their patrons. It appears that bars and nightclubs must not only have adequate cleaning systems in place throughout their premises but they must also be in a position to demonstrate that such systems are being sufficiently implemented on busy nights.
Judgement can be found here.
Author: Elizabeth Linehan