Our client was a young man who was attending a pub on a late friday evening with friends for social purposes.
He was a lawful invitee on the premises of the pub in newcastle. He was unaffected by alcohol, drugs or any other elicit substances.
The pub was a well-known pub in newcastle frequented by many during the week and weekends. It was under the care, control and management of the owners and occupiers of the licence premises.
After the band had finished playing our client was walking across the dance floor when he slipped on a liquid spillage which had been spilt on the dance floor. It resulted in him falling to the ground.
Prior to his fall our client was dancing in an orderly and otherwise unremarkable manner. The band finished playing for the night at approximately 11:30pm and the lights were turned on. People in the area of the hotel started to leave.
Upon leaving the dance floor of the hotel, our clients right foot slid out sideways from underneath him and he fell backwards, falling onto the floor landing on his lower back and buttocks and suffering a serious right knee injury.
Our client sued the newcastle pub in negligence in respect of his injury, loss and damage. The particulars of negligence included the following:-
(a) Failing to take reasonable steps to ensure that the dance floor was safe;
(b) Failing to remove the spilt liquid from the dance floor in a timely manner;
(c) Failing to implement and/or properly execute an adequate cleaning system capable of ensuring that spilt liquid was removed from the dance floor in a timely manner;
(d) Failing to ensure that the physical state of the premises, and in particular the dance floor, did not pose a foreseeable risk of injury to the plaintiff;
(e) Failing to routinely inspect the dance floor so as to identify foreseeable risks of injury to entrants;
(f) Failing to warn the plaintiff of the presence of spilt liquid on the dance floor;
(g) Failing to engage competent cleaners to promptly remove hazards, such as the spilt liquid, from the dance floor.
The defendant pub through its legal representatives denied liability and negligence on their part in causing our clients injury, loss and damage. Allegations were made in their filed defence which in our view were not supported by the contemporaneous, statement and liability evidence.
An expert report was obtained on behalf of our client after a view of the pub in newcastle which substantiated on behalf of our client the allegations of negligence against the pub.
Our client suffered quite a serious injury to his right knee and he was certified as suffering from 30% loss of efficient use of the right leg at or above the knee as compared to a most extreme case.
The defendant pub served no liability or expert medical evidence in response to our evidence. The liability expert report from our consulting engineer determined that our clients accident could have been prevented by the following:-
- By the pub implementing and maintaining a system of inspection and cleaning so that the floor is maintained in a dry and safe state.
- By ensuring that the presence of drinks in the vicinity of and on the dancefloor in affect converts the floor to a similar status of the floor in a shopping centre Food Court where a 5 minute inspection/cleaning cycle is practiced;
- By installing warnings signs of the dangerous nature of the floor surface prohibiting the conveyance in the alcohol beverage or other drinks near and/or on the dancefloor that are visible and easy to read under operational conditions;
- Policing the prohibition of drinks near and/or on the dancefloor by security staff.
- The primary cause of our clients injury was the failure to provide a safe means of access to all areas of the pub.
Our clients liability, medical, radiological and treatment evidence was quite detailed and resulted in the defendant pub agreeing to an out of court settlement with our client receiving quite a substantial award of damages in his favour as a result of his injuries, losses and damages from the accident whilst at the pub.
The patron of the club was awarded substantial damages for his injury.
The case is useful in establishing how a pub can be liability in negligence by failing to take reasonable steps to ensure that the dance floor was safe from spilt liquids whilst the patrons were dancing on the dance floor and ensuring that there was an adequate cleaning system capable of ensuring that the spilt liquids were removed from the dance floor in a timely manner.
CONCLUSIONS:-
If you are a member of a pub, a lawful entrant or an invitee on the premises of the pub and you suffer a serious injury whilst on their premises, you may be entitled to pursue a negligence claim against the pub who had the care, management and control of the pub in which you were injured.
Our client in this case was an invitee of the pub in newcastle for the purposes of watching a band play on a friday evening and after the band completed and he was walking across the dance floor, he slipped and fell due to the spilt liquids on the floor and causing him to suffer a serious right knee injury. There was no proper cleaning system in place at the time.
If you have suffered a serious injury or disabilities as a result of a slip and fall in a local pub, you may be entitled to receive a substantial award of compensation as a result of establishing negligence against the pub for failing to clean up liquid spillages on the floor when they knew or ought to have known of the risk of harm that would eventuate if they failed to act and resulting in you suffering serious injury, loss and damage.
For a free no obligation consultation, please contact us on our toll free number, 1800 004 878 so that an appointment can be arranged for you to attend to protect your legal rights in the matter.
