An artist who ran into a glass door at Dan Murphy's and broke her nose is demanding $495,000 in compensation.
Palina Karlova has launched legal action against Dan Murphy’s parent company, Australian Leisure and Hospitality Group, and door installers Hitec Glazing and Auto Ingress, after she fractured her nose and sustained dental injuries and injuries to her cervical spine, shoulder and elbow during the incident.
Documents filed in the Southport District Court claim the automatic doors did not open when Karlova tried to enter on July 22 last year.
“The doors were invisible to (Karlova) as they displayed no or insufficient signage and no or insufficient motifs on them to alert (Karlova) to their presence,” the documents said.
“(Karlova) oblivious to the presence of the doors, walked into them thereby suffering personal injuries.”
Karlova - who works for TAFE NSW teaching art and also has an art business called Artalova - said the fall she suffered during the incident, at at Dan Murphy’s Southport, also exacerbated a major depressive disorder.
“She intended to grow her business but the injuries caused her to abandon this business opportunity,” the court documents said.
The documents claim Karlova would not have walked into the doors if a small strip of frosting or stickers had been attached to the glass.
It's alleged Dan Murphy's added frosting to the glass a month after Karlova was injured.
Karlova’s lawyer, Tina Ibrahim of Shine Lawyers, told the Gold Coast Bulletin that stores must comply with safety standards.
“This injury serves as a poignant reminder to increase signage and observe safety standards particularly at this time of year, when retailers face an influx of customers who are susceptible to injury if the right safety measures are not observed by staff and store owners,” she said.
“(Karlova) has lost income, has reduced employability in the future, had required medical treatment, and will require treatment in the future,” the court documents noted.
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