Woman (29) awarded €64,000 after slipping on vomit

A woman who slipped and fell on a pool of vomit on the floor of a café bar has been awarded over €64,000 by the High Court.

Mr Justice Kevin Cross said he had found Sarah Jane Burdis an honest witness who did not exaggerate any of her symptoms.

While her level of disability was not at the top of the scale, it was still significant as she was aged in her twenties and would have pain into the future, he said.

Ms Burdis (29), a mother of two from Donaghmede, Dublin, sued Wright’s Café Bar Airside Ltd, with offices at Seaton Road, Swords, Co Dublin, over the slip and fall at the café bar in Airside Retail Park, Co Dublin on July 9th, 2011.

She claimed the cafe company neglected or failed to clean the vomit from the floor, it presented a hazard for her and there was a failure to give any or adequate warning of that.

Noting liability was conceded in the case, Mr Justice Kevin Cross said that was a sensible attitude to adopt.

Having read the medical reports, agreed by both sides, he accepted the level of pain was severe and as a result Ms Burdis had changed her employment from a school swimming instructor to a more sedentary secretarial position.

Earlier, opening the case, Pat O’Connell SC said, after Ms Burdis slipped, she fell and struck her head. She initially suffered headaches and lower back pain and later had severe pain in her lower back.