When it comes to slip and fall cases, they can be a bit more tricky. Liability is often tough to prove. However, many times the negligent party will concede liability when it is clear.
One of the most common ways people get injured is when they trip and fall or "slip and fall" on the premises of another. In some cases, it can be a private residence, or in other case, it can be at a business establishment.
Whether or not a person injured in a slip and fall accident at a retail store can recover from that store depends on the specific facts of the case. Generally, stores have a duty to use reasonable and ordinary care to keep the property, including the floors, reasonably safe for customers. The store has a duty to make reasonable inspections to discover dangerous conditions and to make them safe, and employees should routinely inspect areas the public uses to discover any potentially dangerous conditions, such as a spill. If the spilled liquid was so obvious and visible that the customer should reasonably have seen it, the store does not have a duty to warn. However, a spill might not be considered obvious if a store's display distracts a customer and the customer does not see the spill.
By the same token, stores cannot guarantee our safety 100% of the time. In many cases, businesses can successfully defend an action for personal injury for a slip and fall if they can demonstrate they took reasonably good care of their store, had a regular cleaning schedule that was indeed in force, and use reasonable precautions to protect their patrons.
Awareness of a spill or otherwise dangerous condition is also a key component of a slip and fall injury case. If an employee of the property owner or store occupying the space was notified of the spill or other dangerous condition, this is relevant to proving that the owner or occupier was aware of the dangerous condition and was negligent in failing to clean it up or fix it. Also, the length of time the spill or dangerous condition was present will also factor into the case.
In some cases, failure to comply with building code standards can be deemed negligent. If a property owner violated a relevant building code regulation or statute, the plaintiff can use this evidence to establish negligence on the part of the property owner. A property owner must comply with applicable building codes. For example, building codes often dictate where handrails must be installed and how high they should be. If you fall on a stairway that lacked appropriate handrails, and the lack of the handrail caused your injuries, the fact that the property owner violated the applicable building regulation can be used to establish negligence. How old a building is may also come into play.
Many accidents happen when people are simply careless. If an injured person is partially at fault for his or her own injury, but the landowner is also at fault, he or she might still be able to recover from the landowner, but the amount of damages might be reduced. Further, you may be barred from recovering damages if the landowner successfully argues that the "plain view" doctrine should apply to your case. Under the plain view doctrine, a person who enters another's property has a duty to watch where he or she is going and to notice open and obvious objects that are in plain view. If the entrant does not exercise ordinary care and notice an obvious condition, he or she can said to have assumed the risk, thereby barring or reducing recovery.
A slip and fall case is a type of personal injury case. As with other personal injury cases, you may be able to recover damages for your out-of-pocket expenses, such as medical bills, the cost of prescription drugs, physical therapy and medical equipment. If you have to miss work because of your injuries, you may also be able to recover lost wages. You may also be able to recover damages for pain and suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish and physical impairment.
