A furious grandmother has been left with a shattered wrist and a long, painful recovery after she slipped over in her local Woolworths.
Dusanka Koljibabic was shopping at the Melville Woolworths in Perth‘s southern suburbs when she suddenly lost her footing.
The 69-year-old slipped and fell in the aisle less than a minute after a little girl, who had been playing with a cleaning product, sprayed it on the floor.
The impact shattered her wrist, requiring surgery and a metal plate. Since then, her injury has taken a huge toll on her daily life.
‘I was unable to shower, dress, or undress myself, cook, clean, do any gardening. Most definitely I wasn’t in the position to drive,’ she told 7News.
‘I felt like my life was turned upside down in an instant.
‘I feel like as a customer I have been ignored and it’s through no fault of my own.’
But five months on, Koljibabic says the supermarket giant continues to deny liability. She was offered a one-off $3000 payment, an ‘insulting’ offer she refused.
Koljibabic said the very painful impact shattered her wrist, requiring surgery and a metal plate
Dusanka Koljibabic (pictured) fell after a little girl sprayed cleaning product on the floor
While private health insurance has covered some of the costs, Koljibabic says she’s already spent at least $5,000 and faces up to two years of rehabilitation.
Woolworths told Daily Mail in a statement: ‘We take the health and safety of our customers and team members very seriously. Our team members work hard to ensure the safety of all customers while in the store’.
The case has highlighted the challenge of proving negligence in supermarket slip-and-fall incidents.
In 2012, the High Court ruled that stores have a 15–20minute window to identify and remove hazards.
But Ms Koljibabic believes that policy doesn’t account for incidents like hers and says the substance on the floor was invisible to her and staff members.
Her lawyer is considering taking legal action against the parents or guardians of the girl who sprayed the cleaning product.
In 2017, a Sydney woman who was awarded $151,000 in compensation after slipping on a grape at her local Woolworths lost the payout on appeal.
The NSW District Court initially ruled in her favour, with Justice Maiden SC finding it likely the grape had been dropped by a staff member before the store opened.
Koljibabic fell while she was shopping at the Melville Woolworths in Perth (pictured)
The court accepted that Woolworths had adequate cleaning systems and staff training, but concluded there was no evidence the pre-opening inspection had been properly carried out that day.
However, that ruling was later overturned on appeal. The woman not only lost the compensation but was also ordered to pay Woolworths’ legal costs.
