Woman who tripped over vacuum cleaner in Supermac’s has personal injury claim dismissed
Judge says Mary Darcy was ‘wholly distracted’ by her mobile phone
CCTV: A woman unsuccessfully sued Supermacs over fall in store
A woman had her personal injuries claim against fast-food restaurant Supermac’s dismissed after a judge found she was “wholly distracted” by her phone when she claimed she tripped over a vacuum cleaner.
Mary Darcy, of Sceilg Ard, Headford Road, Galway city, pursued a claim for damages after the incident in Charlestown, Co Mayo in December 2017.
Judge Brian O’Callaghan, sitting in Castlebar Circuit Court on Wednesday, dismissed the claim after Ms Darcy’s direct evidence and CCTV footage of the incident was played.
Judge O’Callaghan praised Ms Darcy, who was pregnant at the time of the incident, for giving an honest account of the incident, but said she was “wholly distracted” by a message on her phone and wasn’t watching where she was going.
He found that Supermac’s was negligent to leave the vacuum cleaner in the position they did but said that, had the plaintiff not been distracted by her phone, she would have seen it clearly.
The incident happened on December 11, 2017, at a service station in Charlestown, Co Mayo.
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Ms Darcy is observed entering the shop and walking past the first aisle where the appliance is positioned and then going to the counter.
After paying for a bag of crisps, she could be seen looking at her phone and turning to leave.
As she made her way to the exit, she tripped over the vacuum cleaner.
In her direct evidence, Ms Darcy said she received a message on her phone and got distracted and then tripped over and fell forward. Ms Darcy said: “I couldn’t get up.”
She said her husband came into the shop and got a fright. She said the manager from Supermac’s came over and helped her up. However, the footage showed Ms Darcy did manage to get into a standing position within 19 seconds unaided.
She immediately began pointing at the vacuum cleaner and placed a hand on her lower back. The court heard Ms Darcy attended A&E afterwards and, as she was three months pregnant, had a baby scan and all was well. She also attended her GP in the aftermath.
Under cross-examination by Patrick Murphy BL, the plaintiff confirmed the vacuum cleaner was there when she entered the shop and she had approached the till without difficulty.
Judge O’Callaghan interjected at this point and said that while the position of the appliance was negligent, the question was, did it cause her to fall.
He said not every negligent act results in liability and had Ms Darcy entered the premises and fallen over it then, it would be a different story. He said the court must ask if the plaintiff was taking due care at the time and clearly she was not.
Supermac's boss Pat McDonagh. Photo: Frank McGrath
At the outset, the court heard Ms Darcy lodged the claim in November 2019 and proceedings were issued on March 16, 2020. Following a request from the plaintiff’s legal team to Supermac’s for a copy of the raw CCTV footage, the chain’s managing director Pat McDonagh offered them an opportunity to view it at the company’s headquarters.
The court heard that in a letter dated June 8, 2020, Mr McDonagh wrote to the plaintiff’s legal team, again offering them the chance to view the footage.
In the letter, he said of the CCTV: “I anticipate we will convince you that your client does not have a stateable case” and “I am hoping the case will be withdrawn after you view the footage”.
Counsel for Ms Darcy, Michael Ronayne BL, said the offer to view the footage in Supermac’s HQ was rejected, describing it as “hostile territory”, and argued costs should be awarded against Supermac’s for not supplying the footage directly.
However, counsel for Supermac’s successfully pointed out the plaintiff was given every opportunity to view the footage before proceedings began and, indeed, after proceedings had begun.
The judge made a costs order against Ms Darcy and for Supermac’s.
