McDonald's Fined for Breach of Duty
Wednesday 27 May 2015 @ 11.55 a.m. | Legal Research | Torts, Damages & Civil Liability
McDonald’s has been ordered to pay $179,000 in damages for the breach of its duty of care in the case of Metaxoulis v McDonald’s Australia Pty Ltd [2015] NSWCA 95. A Sydney chef who came to the rescue of a five year old boy who became trapped in one of McDonald’s playgrounds, has succeeded in his appeal to the New South Wales Court of Appeal alleging that McDonald’s had failed to prevent unauthorised access to the playground area.
Background
The five year old boy was visiting a McDonald’s restaurant when he became stuck between the outside of the playground tunnels and an outside barrier at McDonald’s Playland. The barrier was on a rear part of the equipment that could be accessed for cleaning through a gate, but was fenced off to stop children from climbing on it. Evidence before the court showed that the gate did not have spring-loaded hinges, which meant that if it was left unlatched, the gate would have stayed open rather than closed. It also did not have a sign restricting access, or a key lock, like those used on some swimming pool gates.
Mr. Konstantinos Metaxoulis was an onlooker who witnessed the boy becoming trapped and came to his rescue. After successfully dislodging the child, Mr. Metaxoulis fell a distance of two metres and damaged his wrist. His wrist had previously been damaged as a result of a motorcycle accident. After the fall at McDonald’s, Mr. Metaxoulis was informed by a hand surgeon that his wrist would not return to normal.
Court Decision
Initially, the trial judge found that Mr Metaxoulis had failed to establish any negligence on the part of McDonald’s. However, when the matter went before the appellate court, the court found that a child getting stuck between the tunnel and the barrier was readily foreseeable. Justice Basten wrote:
“Once open it was foreseeable, indeed to be expected, that young children would use it to gain access to the back area of the colourful equipment…Once in that area, it was also to be expected that they would, if they could, climb on to the colourful equipment. The risk of getting stuck, or slipping off, was also readily foreseeable."
Mr Metaxoulis was awarded damages for past and future economic loss, as well as for non-economic loss. McDonald's was ordered to pay his costs for both legal proceedings.
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Sources:
Metaxoulis v McDonald’s Australia Pty Ltd[2015] NSWCA 95
