Ricci Paulson sues Bundaberg council and IGA for million dollars

Bundaberg council and an IGA supermarket are being sued for nearly $1million after an incident allegedly caused a young mother to lose her livelihood. Warning: Graphic content.

Shine Lawyers lodged a statement of claim with Rockhampton Supreme Court on January 16 on behalf of Meadowvale woman Ricci Paulson, regarding an incident she claimed happened on the public footpath outside the IGA X-Press store within the Bundaberg Northside Plaza shopping complex at the corner of Gavin and Kolan Streets in Bundaberg North.

A Bundaberg mother and former beauty therapist is suing Bundaberg Regional Council and an IGA supermarket for nearly $1 million following a sickening injury she claims was caused by a dangerous footpath outside the store.

Shine Lawyers lodged a statement of claim with Rockhampton Supreme Court on January 16 on behalf of Meadowvale woman Ricci Paulson, regarding an incident she claimed happened on the public footpath outside the IGA X-Press store within the Bundaberg Northside Plaza shopping complex at the corner of Gavin and Kolan Streets in Bundaberg North.

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The claim lists two defendants, Bundaberg Regional Council and John and Nellie Bannister, owners of the IGA X-Press store.

The main assertion of the claim is that the footpath outside the store running parallel to Gavin Street was hazardous due to worn grass exposing sections of bare dirt, with an uneven surface sloping down to the kerb.

The claim alleges Bundaberg council and the IGA X-Press supermarket knew the footpath was hazardous and heavily used by the public in accessing the supermarket.

In the claim, Ms Paulson said she parked her car on Gavin Street outside the store around 10am on January 15, 2022.

After entering the supermarket and making some purchases, she walked through the car park and went to cross the footpath running along Gavin Street to return to her vehicle.

While crossing the footpath, Ms Paulson said her right foot slipped forward and rolled on her ankle, and she heard two loud cracks as she fell to the ground with her right leg folded underneath her body.

The claim stated that IGA employees came to her assistance immediately and provided her with water and shielded her from the sun.

While she was waiting for an ambulance, the IGA staff told her that people had slipped on the footpath “a number of times”, and the body corporate of the Bundaberg Northside Plaza shopping complex had complained to the council about the dangerous condition of the footpath.

As a result of the alleged accident, Ms Paulson sustained a right ankle fracture dislocation, a lower back injury and psychiatric injuries which she claimed prevented her from continuing in her work as a beauty therapist.

Aged 31 at the time of the accident, Ms Paulson is seeking a total damages claim of $957,957.82, including more than $490,000 due to employment lost from the date of the accident through the next 34 years of her potential working life.

Ms Paulson sustained a right ankle fracture dislocation, a lower back injury and psychiatric injuries from the accident which she claimed prevented her from continuing in her work as a beauty therapist.

The basis of the claim is Bundaberg council and the owners of the IGA supermarket failed in their duty to take care of the safety of pedestrians using the footpath to access the supermarket.

The claim alleged council had been aware the footpath was hazardous since June 12, 2020, when it was logged as “very slippery” by a member of the public in its public fault reporting tool.

Soon afterwards, a council officer described the footpath as a “worn sloping grassed area” in response to a customer request management inquiry on June 17, 2020.

Despite knowing the footpath was unsafe and frequently used, neither council nor the owners of the IGA X-Press store took any steps to improve the footpath or display any barriers or signs warning pedestrians of the hazardous footpath, the claim alleged.

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Nellie Bannister, co-owner of the IGA X-Press store, declined to comment on the matter saying it was in the hands of her insurance company.

Bundaberg council did not respond to requests for comment by deadline.