Man awarded nearly $15,000 after slipping near wet-floor sign at McDonald's

A man who slipped near a wet-floor sign at a McDonald's in Canberra has received nearly A$15,000 in compensation after initially claiming A$2.15 million.

He visited the restaurant in Mitchell in February 2021 and slipped after passing the sign, although he did not fall. The judgment said he steadied himself on the warning sign, grabbed his hip and later appeared on CCTV limping. He claimed the incident caused a range of injuries, including problems that affected his sleep.

The franchisee argued that cleaning work should have been obvious. A large red bucket, a worker in a red uniform and four yellow warning signs were visible in the area. But ACT Supreme Court Justice David Mossop found that one of the signs had been moved before the incident and was less prominent.

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steadied himself on the warning sign and immediately clutched his hip

The judge said a customer paying reasonable attention would have seen the employee mopping. However, the mopped area extended about 50 centimetres beyond the warning sign in the direction from which the man approached. That meant it was not necessarily clear that the wet area extended beyond the sign.

Justice Mossop found that the franchisee had not taken all reasonable care to prevent injury during the cleaning operation and had breached its duty of care. He also found the man partly responsible and did not accept that every health problem he later reported resulted directly from the slip.

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all care that was reasonable