Dubai civil court denies compensation claim over fall near shop entrance

The Dubai civil court denied Hana Al Nuaimi’s claim for compensation from Omar Haddad after she reported slipping on a wet floor and hurting her wrist. It ordered no payment.

The dispute turned on whether a warning sign was visible before the fall, and whether Hana had proved an injury and clinic expenses connected to it. The court found that the evidence did not establish those elements.

A photograph presented by Omar showed a yellow sign beside a wet patch shortly after Hana fell. It did not show when the sign was placed, so the court found neither that a timely warning was present nor that it was absent.

Hana’s account that she saw no sign was relevant, as was Omar’s belief that one was already there. But his inability to prove the sign was in place did not, by itself, establish her claim: Hana bore the burden of proving that a failure to warn caused her fall.

The court also said Hana’s report of a wrist sprain was relevant, but no medical record or receipt had been presented to confirm the injury, treatment or connection to the fall. It could not determine a supported expense amount from the available evidence.

Hana said she fell in Omar’s building, hurt her wrist and had a medical bill. She sought reimbursement and argued that the photograph did not prove the sign was there before the incident. Her final submission referred to a clinic receipt, but the court said the receipt itself was not presented.

Omar initially said he believed the sign was already in place, while acknowledging that the photograph could not establish its timing. He said he had no other obtainable evidence on that point and asked the court to deny or limit compensation because the expense and its connection to the fall were unsupported.

Omar referred to an AED 900 request. The judgment said that reference did not establish either the amount Hana claimed or an expense she had paid.

Hana reported slipping on a wet patch near the shop entrance and putting out her hand to break the fall. Omar suggested she may have been looking toward a shelf, but the court did not calculate any reduction for shared responsibility because neither liability nor a compensable amount had been established.

The judgment was limited to the evidence presented at the hearing. It did not find that Hana suffered no pain or that the sign was definitely present before she fell.