The employer had been alerted to a slippery work surface (tiles that water leaked or spilled onto) several times, but failed to fix the problem, thus breaching its duty to provide a safe workplace. Its claim that the employee had been negligent failed.

Facts of case

The employee was a waitress at a hotel. While walking along a tiled area to deliver plates, she slipped on a puddle of water caused by spillage from a water cooler. She injured her left shoulder, arm and neck, resulting in long-term physical injuries and psychological issues. She claimed she had reported the problem to management several times after customers had complained, including some who had experienced or seen slips and falls.

The employer warned employees to be aware of the problem, take care, clean up spillages and place down towels, but took no remedial action to stop the cause of the problem or permanently mitigate it. Nor did it have any system for monitoring or cleaning the area in place.

The employee suffered severe injuries that worsened over time, including daily muscle spasms and significant headaches. Extensive medical evidence was presented to the court.

Decision

The Victorian County Court found that the hotel had breached its statutory duty to provide a safe work environment. The risks created by water spillage and the dark and potentially slippery tiles were foreseeable, and appropriate action would have been to install rubber non-slip mats. The latter was eventually done sometime later.

The court rejected the claim of contributory negligence by the employee, finding that she wore the footwear specified by the employer. Her ongoing pain led to opioid dependency and eventual need for a detoxification program. Until then she was unable to work for more than two years, and after that only in a limited capacity. Medical evidence indicated that she could not be a “reliable” employee because of her psychiatric condition.

The length and history of the pain suffered by the employee indicated that it had psychological elements that lasted beyond the physical injuries. She ended up with a condition where psychological pain manifested itself as physical pain, requiring psychiatric treatment in addition to physical treatment.

The court awarded her $650,000 to cover economic loss (including loss of future earning capacity) and other damages. Because the pain originated from psychological injuries caused by her fall at work, the amount covered the period of suffering that continued beyond the end of the period she was unable to work.

What this means for employers

A payout of $650,000 to an employee resulted because the employer failed to take proper remedial action to rectify or mitigate an item of work equipment that made a floor wet and slippery, despite employees and customers reporting the matter several times. Therefore the problem was foreseeable and fixing it was a far more cost-effective solution, quite apart from the drastic effects it had on the injured employee.

The judgment is very long due to an exhaustive analysis of the medical/psychological evidence. However, it does provide some insight into how situations evolve where the symptoms and effects are considerably greater than the extent of physical injuries would first indicate. 

Read the judgment

Gartmann v Dominion Hotel Group Pty Ltd (ACN 135 105 887) [2022] VCC 1035 (14 July 2022)

Mike Toten

Freelance Writer

Mike Toten is a freelance writer, editor and media commentator who specialises in research and writing about HR best practices, industrial relations, equal employment opportunity and related areas. Mike has over 30 years' writing experience, including writing and editing Human Resources Management