Slip
& Fall Attorney Services
Premises
Liability
Going
to the grocery store or dining in a restaurant is an
act one does not usually think twice about. These types
of activities are part of life’s normal routine.
Unfortunately, however, thousands of people are injured
each year, some very seriously, when they are injured
due to dangerous conditions in public places such as
these. A branch of law known as “premises liability”
sets out certain obligations on property owners in order
to keep visitors and customers safe from harm. Premises
liability law provides a remedy for certain parties
who are injured due to various types of dangerous conditions
in public places.
Premises liability law provides that the owner of a
property (as well as the owner’s employees) owes
a duty to customers to keep the property in a reasonably
safe condition. This means that a property owner must
keep his or her premises clean and safe from various
hazards. For example, a property owner is required to
clean up puddles of liquid or broken packages on the
floor of his grocery store; a restaurant owner is obligated
to ensure that the floor of her restaurant is clean
and that any spilled food is picked up promptly; and
a gas station owner is required to shovel snow and ice
from the parking lot or sidewalk in front of his service
station. If a property owner fails to meet these types
of safety requirements, the owner may have breached
his duty to provide his customers with a reasonably
safe environment. As a result, a customer may be entitled
to compensation if he or she is injured due to these
types of hazardous conditions.
Premises liability cases always hinge on the unique
facts of the accident. It is important to focus on the
behavior of both the property owner and the person who
was injured. In order to be held responsible for any
type of premises liability case, the owner of the premises:
(1) must cause the dangerous condition; (2) must know
of the dangerous condition but do nothing to remove
it or warn customers about it; or (3) should know about
the dangerous condition because any reasonable person
taking care of the property would discover and remove
or repair that danger within the same period of time.
As a result, the length of time that the hazardous condition
existed before an injury occurs is very important to
a premises liability case. Timing is crucial to determine
whether a property owner had either actual or constructive
notice of a dangerous condition prior to a customer’s
injury. Take, for example, a situation in which a person
slips and falls in a restaurant on ketchup spilled when
a bottle was dropped on the floor. In this scenario,
the restaurant owner may be liable if she knew about
the spilled ketchup but took no action to clean it up
or warn customers to be careful in that area. This would
constitute actual notice, because the store’s owner
actually knew about the spill. However, the restaurant
owner might also be liable even if she never actually
knew about the spilled ketchup. This would be true if
the spilled ketchup had been on the floor for such a
long period of time that any other reasonable restaurant
owner would have discovered and cleaned that spill within
that same length of time. This is called constructive
notice. This means that property owners are responsible
for periodically inspecting their premises to check
on the cleanliness and safety of the property.
Of course, there are situations in which a property
owner is not held responsible for a customer’s
injuries. A customer will not automatically win a premises
liability case just because he slipped on spilled coffee
on the floor of a convenience store. It is crucial to
evaluate the specific facts of each individual premises
liability case. The important question to ask is whether
an ordinary person would have reasonably seen and avoided
the danger. For example, if a reasonable customer would
have seen and avoided that same puddle of spilled coffee
at the convenience store, the owner of the property
may not be liable. Likewise, if the store owner puts
a cone or sign warning customers about the spill, yet
a customer ignores the warning and walks in the area
of the spilled coffee, the store owner would probably
not be liable when the customer slips on the puddle
and is injured. For these reasons, it is important to
remember that you do not necessarily have a slam-dunk
case just because you are injured in a public place.
If a party is successful in bringing a premises liability
claim, then that person will be entitled to monetary
damages. The amount and types of damages may vary, but
in general will include compensation for past and future
medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and
disfigurement.
Finally, if you are injured in a public place or in
someone’s home, be very careful about signing any
statement regarding the incident. You may be held to
an incomplete or misleading representation of the facts
if you agree to sign a statement provided by an insurance
company or a store. It is best not to provide a statement
of any sort until you have talked to a lawyer about
your accident.
Premises liability cases may take longer to resolve
than other case, and frequently require expert investigation
and testimony. It is important to seek out competent
counsel to advise you of your rights as each jurisdiction
has different laws pertaining to these types of claims.
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