A customer, who slipped on a discarded baby wipe in Argos and damaged his shoulder when he fell, has been awarded 17,500 Euros in injury compensation for a slip in Argos at the Circuit Civil Court in Dublin.
Declan Conroy from Dublin had been shopping at the Henry Street branch of Argos in May 2008 when his accident happened. While queuing at the counter to order a lawnmower for his mother, he slipped on a baby wipe which had been discarded on the floor and fell – injuring his shoulder on the floor.
After receiving medical attention, Declan made a claim for compensation for a slip in Argos against the store – claiming that their system of monitoring the store for potential hazards was inadequate and he had sustained an injury as a result.
Argos denied liability for Declan´s injury; claiming that CCTV footage revealed the presence of the baby wipe just six minutes before Declan´s accident and arguing that staff could not possibly be required to constantly monitor the floor for hazards in a historically low-risk store.
However, Judge Jacqueline Linnane at the Circuit Civil Court heard a forensic engineer – appearing on Declan´s behalf – testify that, because of the extra footfall in the queuing area, a greater level of vigilance should be applied. It was also revealed in court that five minutes before the baby wipe first appeared on camera, CCTV footage showed a woman manoeuvring a baby buggy through the area.
Judge Jacqueline Linnane determined that, on the balance of probabilities, it was the woman with the baby buggy who had dropped the baby wipe and, as more than ten minutes would have passed between the hazard being present and Declan sustaining his shoulder injury, she was finding Argos liable. She awarded Declan 17,500 Euros compensation for a slip in Argos injury plus costs.