Shopper Awarded €60,000 in Damages After Being Injured and Getting Lost in IKEA Warehouse

A woman who became disorientated and was lost for three hours in IKEA’s Ballymun warehouse, after being struck on the head by a falling flat-pack item, has been awarded €60,000 in damages.

Judge Cormac Quinn, presiding in the Circuit Civil Court, stated that the claimant had sustained both physical and psychological injuries, for which she was entitled to compensation of €40,000, along with €20,455 for special damages, which included a year’s loss of earnings.

Hannan Tababi (40), of Clarence Mangan Road, Dublin 8, told her barrister, Eileen McAuley, that it had taken her three hours to locate the exit from the IKEA store after the incident.

Ms McAuley, instructed by Synnott Lawline Solicitors, explained that her client had been shopping for a chest of drawers in the “reduced price area” of the Ballymun, Dublin, warehouse in March 2016 when she was struck by a large box containing flat-pack furniture.

Ms Tababi described how the flat-pack box had been propped against a warehouse wall, similar to how a book might stand upright on a shelf. She had been examining the label on a smaller box when a much larger one toppled over, causing her to fall to her knees.

She stated that there were no staff members present to offer assistance, no warning signs indicating any potential hazard, and no restraints securing the box to prevent it from falling.

Ms Tababi reported feeling disoriented after the incident and attended the accident and emergency department at St James’s Hospital the following day due to persistent dizziness and pain in her left shoulder and hand.

She stated that she had lost her employment at Apple, where she worked in IT technical support, as a consequence of her injuries.

She had also experienced psychological effects from the incident and had been diagnosed with Adjustment Disorder. In the following months, she suffered from significant anxiety and low mood, and experienced nightmares involving objects falling on her or her children.

The two-day trial was briefly interrupted when barrister Conor Kearney, representing IKEA, informed the court that his instructing solicitor had just discovered, while in court, that a Covid test taken the previous day had returned a positive result. The proceedings were adjourned for a thorough cleaning of the courtroom.

Judge Quinn noted that IKEA had consented to the court’s unlimited jurisdiction in the matter, allowing him to make an award exceeding the Circuit Court’s usual €60,000 limit, if deemed necessary.

He stated that he had carefully reviewed the evidence, particularly the various medical reports, over the weekend.