Security guard who claimed he tripped over supermarket trolley wheel loses court action

Judge said he was satisfied man had seen the 'offending trolley' and he had sufficient space to pass in safety and the incident could have been avoided through the exercise of ordinary care

At the time of the incident in June 2020, man was working as a security guard at the Tesco Extra store in Drogheda, Co Louth. File picture

A security guard who claimed he tripped and injured his back after he allegedly caught his foot on the wheel of a trolley outside a supermarket store room has lost a High Court action for damages.

Mr Justice Paul Coffey said he was satisfied Ivan Bubak had seen the “offending trolley” and he had sufficient space to pass in safety and the incident could have been avoided through the exercise of ordinary care.

Ivan Bubak, 46, of Killegland Crescent, Ashbourne, Co Meath, had sued his employer OCS One Complete Solution Ltd, with offices at Airways Industrial Estate, Dublin and Tesco Ireland Ltd.

Mr Bubak at the time of the incident in June 2020 was working as a security guard at the Tesco Extra store in Drogheda, Co Louth.

He had claimed he was returning from a storeroom where keys were kept and had to pass by a narrow area where trolleys had been left. He contended the exit route provided to him was allegedly unsafe and created an alleged tripping hazard such that his right foot became caught in the rear wheel of a trolley nearest the door from the storeroom.

The claims were denied. And the defendants alleged he had failed to exercise any reasonable care for his own safety and was the author of his own misfortune. In the proceedings, it was contended Mr Bubak had an unobstructed path of travel which it was claimed he failed to take.

Mr Justice Coffey, who during the hearing of the case viewed CCTV footage, said instead of sticking to the path that was available to him, Mr Bubak “extended his right leg away from his line of travel and hooked it around the trolley’s rear left wheel, resulting in his subsequent forward fall."

He noted it was put to Mr Bubak in cross-examination that he deliberately hooked his right leg around the trolley’s wheel “dragging it like a football player looking for a penalty”. 

He said Mr Bubak denied any deliberate intent but acknowledged what he did was really dangerous but the judge said he failed to provide any explanation for his action.

A consulting engineer on the Bubak side, the judge said, when asked if the video footage had changed his view about the case, stated he was concerned about the way in which the security guard extended his right leg.

“I share the concern expressed by Mr Bubak’s consulting engineer, a concern that was not allayed by Mr Bubak’s previous action of moving the rear of the offending trolley towards him as he entered the storeroom,” Mr Justice Coffey said.

The judge said he was also concerned by the “evasive and obfuscating responses” Mr Bubak gave to simple and direct questions that were put to him about his past history of intermittent lower back pain.

Mr Justice Coffey said although the evidence was not so compelling as to be coercive, his unease as to the way the incident occurred was such that he could not be satisfied that Mr Bubak had established on the balance of probabilities that the incident was accidental.