Woman sues barbecue shop for slipping on ketchup

A WOMAN is suing a barbecue chicken outlet for compensation after she slipped and fell on tomato ketchup.

She is Subhadra Satnarine-Singh, 54, of Boiscanoe Drive, Penal Rock Road, who is contending that the owner owes his customers a duty to ensure the floor in his shop is free from barbecue sauce. In fact, she pleaded in her lawsuit, such places should be free of any liquid that would cause patrons to slip.

Satnarine-Singh bought a box of barbecue, slipped on the ketchup, fell and twisted her ankle on February 29, 2016.

In a High Court lawsuit, she is holding Anil Bar-B-Que Shop, of Debe, accountable.

In her lawsuit, filed by attorney Stephen Boodram on February 22, Satnarine-Singh said she went to buy a box of barbecue chicken at the shop in Debe. She named Anil Dookie and the shop as one defendant and said that after she bought her chicken, she realised there was ketchup and barbecue sauce on the floor.

Satnarine-Singh said she slipped, fell, fractured her left ankle and was treated at San Fernando General Hospital. Orthopaedic surgeon Dr Stephen Ramroop then attended to her privately and assessed her impairment at 20 per cent. The injuries caused by the fall, the lawsuit said, involved torn ligaments and fracture of the fibula bone. There is a space between the fibula and tibia bones which had to be closed by a screw.

Satnarine-Singh said that since the fall, she has not been able to work in her occupation as a caregiver.

She is seeking damages for personal injuries, loss of income, pain and suffering. The owner of the shop, she said, ought to have placed appropriate signs on the premises warning of a wet floor, and had a duty of care to patrons to keep the floor free from such liquids.

The shop is challenging the lawsuit through attorney Jeevan Andrew Rampersad, who has filed an appearance.