A snack food factory worker’s bid for compensation over a staircase fall has ended after he failed to show he slipped on “potato debris”. 

Anthony Macari’s negligence lawsuit against chip-maker Snack Brands Foods was thrown out by the NSW Appeal Court, which backed an earlier Supreme Court ruling that found “two insurmountable difficulties” with the worker’s case. 

“He has not established what caused him to fall; and he has not established that there were any reasonable precautions the defendant should have taken which would have prevented him slipping,” the first judge, Justice Richard Cavanagh, said in February. 

Justice Cavanagh also noted: “The defendant is not the guarantor of the plaintiff’s safety. Accidents are often caused by a combination of unfortunate and coincidental circumstances. 

“The fact that an accident or incident occurred at the workplace is not generally a sufficient basis to attribute responsibility to a defendant.” 

Mr Macari suffered arm, neck, back and psychological injuries in the June 2018 fall on stairs in the company’s Blacktown factory. 

He needed a “total right shoulder replacement” the following year. 

Justice Cavanagh assessed damages at $781,500, but found Mr Macari had failed to make his case for compensation and instead must pay Snack Brands Foods’ legal costs. 

In the first trial, Mr Macari initially said he slipped on starchy water that splashed from a nearby hopper where potatoes were boiled. 

But, as the recent Appeal Court ruling notes, the company presented evidence that the hopper never contained boiling water. 

“This produced a change in the appellant’s case: it was alleged that he had slipped either due to ‘potato debris’ being on the steps, or because the steps, despite being non-slip when installed, had since suffered wear and were therefore slippery when wet,” the Appeal Court ruling says. 

Mr Macari’s appeal centred on the debris argument, saying the first judge was wrong to reject this as the likely cause of the accident. But the Appeal Court says the debris claim was unproven, and it adds three witnesses for the company stated the steps were not slippery or there had been no previous slips or falls on them. 

The Appeal Court judges conclude: “The appellant gave different accounts of why he slipped. 

“It is understandable that the primary judge was unwilling to view his evidence as establishing to the relevant standard that potato debris or wear and tear of the steps was the cause of his fall.” 

Leighton Hawkes, a principal at law firm McCabes, which represented the chip company, says the appeal decision “reiterates the position that the plaintiff bears the onus of establishing the precise cause of an accident”. 

And he says it highlights the importance of employers making early investigations and taking statements after incidents at their worksites. “In this case, the ability to identify and call four supportive witnesses who gave generally consistent evidence was critical in the defendant securing the verdict in its favour,” he said. 

See the ruling here.