High-end furniture designer sues Chiltern Firehouse for £200,000 after bathroom fall

A high-end furniture designer is suing the celebrity hotspot Chiltern Firehouse for £200,000 in damages after falling in the men’s bathroom and seriously injuring himself.

David Salmon, who counts royal households among his clientele, suffered a broken nose and teeth after he tripped in the exclusive London establishment in Nov 2018.

The British designer said he was taking a comfort break while he was out dining in the fashionable eatery with “associates” when he fell, blaming the restaurant for not putting a "mind the step" warning sign in the bathroom.

The restaurant, on the site of an old fire station in London’s West End, has accepted "primary liability" for the accident but, according to court documents, claims Mr Salmon was partly to blame for his fall because he had been drinking at the time.

"We consider his alcohol consumption was a contributing factor to the accident," said the hotel.

The Manhattan-style brasserie and hotel was set up by Andre Balazs, an American hotelier, in a Grade-II listed former fire station in 2014. It quickly became popular with stars such as Kate Moss, Tom Cruise and Noel Gallagher.

According to claim documents filed earlier this summer at the High Court, Mr Salmon said he fell on a step just inside the men's toilets at the restaurant.

He said there was no warning sign and that, because the colour of the step tiles was the same as the lower floor, there was nothing to indicate a change in level that appeared "two paces" inside the lavatory.

The 61-year-old, now living in Monaco, is suing Chiltern Street Hotel Ltd, claiming negligence in failing to warn of the hazard, failing to install a handrail, and failing to "clearly demark the edge of the step".

Mr Salmon's legal team are "vehemently denying" any suggestion that he was inebriated when he came to grief, insisting that he simply drank wine to accompany his meal.

In court documents, David Powell, his barrister, said: "Whilst it is accepted that Mr Salmon shared a bottle of wine with an associate whilst at the premises, it is averred that he did so with a meal and over a relatively lengthy period of time.

"He is, in his own words, 'a big guy', he was used to drinking such an amount of wine with a meal.

"In the circumstances, he was certainly not inebriated. In fact, the wine he had consumed did not impair his ability to see and/or appreciate the step in the circumstances set out above and thus did not contribute to the accident.”

Mr Powell added that “as the premises was a restaurant serving alcohol”, it should have anticipated that some visitors “would have consumed some alcohol and may be impaired”.

He went on to say: "In those circumstances, the step and/or floor created an even greater danger or trap and/or an even more foreseeable risk of harm than in a premises in which alcohol was not sold."

Alongside his broken nose, Mr Salmon was left with broken teeth and multiple injuries to the knee, upper body and both shoulders.

The documents claim his fall also caused psychiatric injury in the shape of PTSD and a "microscopic brain injury underpinning post-concussional type syndrome".

Mr Salmon is an acclaimed furniture designer and manufacturer who started his career in the field of antiques restoration and working with English Heritage and the National Trust before carving out his bespoke furniture design business.

According to his company's website, "David continues to produce bespoke designs for prestigious architects and interior designers worldwide, for private clients and most of the world's royal households".

Mr Salmon's case was filed at the court earlier this summer, but has not yet appeared in court before a judge.

Representatives from Chiltern Street Hotel Ltd have been contacted for comment.