A woman who sued after she slipped on a chip in a shopping centre food court has been awarded €40,000 by a High Court judge.
Mr Justice Kevin Cross said Lina Misiunaite was an honest witness and he accepted her account of the fall on November 4th, 2014.
She claimed a chip was allowed to remain on the floor of the food court and alleged failure to warn her of the danger posed by the chip.
She told the court she fell forward, landing on her left knee, as she went to get food for her children at the Liffey Valley shopping centre food court almost three years ago.
The judge said he accepted the evidence the floor of the food court could be dangerous if wet or if there was a chip on the floor.
The judge rejected any suggestion of contributory negligence on the part of Ms Misiunaite over a failure to see the chip on the ground. He also rejected suggestions the short boots she was wearing with heels were responsible for her fall.
Separate action
He also said she had made no attempt to hide the fact she had settled a separate action for €10,000 against Lidl supermarkets after issuing proceedings over a slip and fall in 2013.
Ms Misiunaite (36), Coldcut Park, Liffey Valley, Palmerstown, Dublin, had sued the owners and occupiers of the food court area – two UK companies, HSBC Alternative Investments Ltd and Grosvenor Limited, and Hines Real Estate Ireland Limited, Hogan Place, Dublin.
She also sued the cleaning company at the food court, Noonan Services Group Ltd, Swords Business Park, Swords, Co Dublin, as a result of the fall.
She said afterwards she found it difficult to look after her young children and do household tasks such as hoovering and lifting shopping bags.
The claims were denied and Noonan Services Group contended it had a proper cleaning system in place at the food court.
Mr Justice Cross held the defendants jointly liable and awarded €35,000 for pain and suffering to date and €5,000 for pain and suffering in to the future.
Because the award was under the threshold for High Court cases, he awarded costs on the Circuit Court scale and put a stay on the award for 28 days in the event of an appeal.