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Woman receives a $40,000 settlement after being injured on a slippery floor

Case Overview
  • Our client slipped on water spillage at a grocery store and landed on her side. 
  • She contacted Gerard Malouf & Partners and was placed in the care of our Public Liability specialist.
  • Our experts discovered that the flooring did not meet the required standards, and there were several precautionary measures that were not taken

This case involved a woman who slipped on water spillage at a grocery store, falling heaving onto her side. She sustained injury to her right hip, right elbow and right wrist. There was no signage warning of the slippery floor and no attempt made to eliminate the hazard prior to her accident.

This woman contacted Gerard Malouf & Partners and was put into the care of one of our Accredited Specialists and Senior Associates, Jayne O’Sullivan. 

“It was our expert’s opinion that the Defendant had failed their duty of care under work health & safety legislation. This failure to provide safe access throughout the store, led to our client suffering a significant injury.”


Jayne O' Sullivan
Our Approach

Jayne and her team got straight to work by organising for the area to be inspected by one of our highly experienced health and safety experts. Our expert found that the flooring was not in line with standards and was a material that has a very high contribution to being slippery when wet. There were multiple precautionary measures that could have been taken by the store to identify the hazard or eliminate it altogether. It was our expert’s opinion that the Defendant had failed their duty of care under work health & safety legislation. This failure to provide safe access throughout the store, led to our client suffering significant injury.

Jayne’s team arranged for our client to be assessed by an orthopaedic surgeon who concluded that our client was left with impairment as a result of her slip and fall. She had ongoing pain, stiffness and weakness as result of her fall, which was impacting her day to day.

The team also arranged for our client to be assessed by an occupational therapist to comment on the domestic care needs that our client now had as a result of her accident. Despite our client having significant pre-existing injuries, this fall increased her needs for domestic care and meant that she had to rely on others to do things she once could.

The Result

Our client's case was ultimately successful and a settlement of $40,000 was received. The client was grateful to receive compensation for her injuries and to know that justice had been served by holding the defendant accountable for their failure to adhere to health and safety guidelines.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Information

Public liability refers to the responsibilities owners or occupants of a public space have to protect anyone who enters. If the owners or occupants fall short of these responsibilities, resulting in an injury, a case for compensation can be made.

Some of the most common incidents covered by public liability law include:

  • The food or drink from a restaurant makes you sick: The most common example of this type of public liability is food poisoning, however improperly disclosed allergens could also lead to litigation.
  • A slip and fall accident caused by negligence: Slip and fall incidents are especially common in busy public places such as playgrounds, schools, shopping centres, common walkways in buildings and outdoor event venues. They can result from negligent behaviour if poorly lit, uneven, unmarked or slippery surfaces are involved, amongst other reasons.
  • Injury caused by poor workmanship: If a product used by a space fails mechanically and causes an injury, a public liability claim can often be made. Examples include exploding gas bottles, poorly constructed furnishings and inadequate building structures. These cases may also be eligible for product liability litigation, if you decide to pursue both the property owner and the product manufacturer.
  • An attack by an animal while in a space: If the owners or occupants of a space fail to keep an animal, whether domestic or wild, contained as a result of negligence, you may have a potential case.

Following an initial meeting, the first task will be to establish the general facts of the case. This will include your medical diagnosis, which will need to be confirmed and documented by a doctor; and proof that the person or company at fault owed you a duty of care, which will need to be demonstrated. Together, this will show that your injury occurred when they breached that duty of care.

From there a further investigation will proceed—contacting and interviewing witnesses, speaking with expert consultants, and more—all in order to bolster the strength of your case even further. Only once this process is complete, and your claim can be demonstrated and proven in full, will the process move on to the next step.

Public liability claims enable you to recoup the financial and emotional costs of suffering an injury due to someone else’s negligence. Defendants regularly offer monetary settlements to claimants, particularly if they acknowledge liability and believe they would lose in court.

But should you accept the settlement or proceed to the later stages of litigation instead, where a judge will have the final decision? Every case is different, but here are some of the factors you may wish to consider before making your choice:

  1. The size of the settlement
  2. The strength of your case
  3. Your patience levels
  4. Your lawyer’s advice

 

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About Us
Gerard Malouf & Partners have provided friendly, experienced legal advice to communities across Australia for over 35 years. Our Personal Injury Lawyers have taken on ten’s of thousands of cases and we are proud to have won billions of dollars for our clients.
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Meet the diverse and dynamic team of compensation lawyers and supporting staff that have made this all happen below. Our multi-lingual team can discuss your claims in Arabic, Assyrian, Turkish, Greek, Italian, French, Serbian, Croatian, Armenian, Mandarin, Hindi, Punjabi or Malayalam.
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Meet the diverse and dynamic team of compensation lawyers and supporting staff that have made this all happen below. Our multi-lingual team can discuss your claims in Arabic, Assyrian, Turkish, Greek, Italian, French, Serbian, Croatian, Armenian, Mandarin, Hindi, Punjabi or Malayalam.

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