Man awarded $190,000 for slipping on wet floor

Jul 29, 2021 | News On Japan

Jul 29, 2021 (NHK) - A Tokyo court has ordered a supermarket operator to pay the equivalent of about 190,000 dollars to a man who was injured after slipping over on floor made wet by water from lettuces while he was shopping.

The Tokyo District Court handed down the ruling on Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by the man, who is in his 60s and lives in Tokyo.

The man was shopping at a supermarket in Kanagawa Prefecture, adjoining Tokyo, five years ago when he fell on the floor in the grocery section. He was left with a disability and filed the lawsuit claiming the wet floor caused him to slip over.

The supermarket operator disputed the claim, saying the floor could not have been wet. It argued that the man fell because he was wearing slippery sandals and in a hurry.

Presiding judge Shinada Yukio said the floor was wet because every time a customer took a red leaf lettuce from the shelf, water from it dripped on the floor.

He noted that the store was aware this could happen but did not address the problem, such as by regularly wiping the floor.

He ordered the supermarket to pay the man more than 21 million yen in damages for loss of income and compensation for his disability.

The retailer declined to comment.

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