If you are injured at a place such as a restaurant, there is a chance the business owner could be at fault depending on what caused you to fall and the conditions of the property. If it is the business owner’s fault then they can be held liable and you can be compensated for your pain and injuries, but in order to do that you have to find out if the business owner is at fault or not.
Business owners are not at fault for an injury if they took precautions to avoid anyone getting hurt. For example, an employee just mopped the floor and it is wet but in order to prevent injuries they place a wet floor sign in the wet area. This signals to all guests that the floor is wet and they should be cautious when walking in this area. If a person does fall here, the company is protected because they did their part of warning guests of the wet floor and the guest knew the risk of not being careful in that vicinity. Another example could be a crack or break in the concrete that was brought to the owner’s attention and they made sure to fix it within a reasonable time period.
If the business could have prevented your injury then that is a sign that they may be liable for the injuries you sustained from your accident. Using the previously mentioned examples, if the business fails to warn guests that the floor is wet and is a hazard, then they could be at fault if a guest falls and gets hurt. A business is only at fault if the injury was caused because of negligent behavior.
What might seem scary or unfair is that a business is not held liable if you are not injured. You may have fallen on their property or because of a hazard that they failed to fix but if you aren’t injured then you would not be able to receive compensation or take legal steps to hold the company or owner accountable, since no damage came from it.
There may be negligent conditions on the property such as an uneven sidewalk in the parking lot, but if you fall inside the store in the frozen foods aisle then it’s very unlikely for you to get compensation. SInce there is no correlation between the uneven sidewalk and your fall in teh frozen foods aisle, you wouldn’t have a case and the business would not be held liable.
If you are injured because of something another customer did, then the business will likely not be held liable except for specific circumstances. Customers and other guests can often make an environment unsafe, which is not the fault of the business owner. The business owner could be responsible for not shutting down unruly or unsafe behavior, but the injury you sustained is specifically from the guest and not from the negligence of the business.
If you are injured at a place such as a store, the owner or manager could be held liable for your injury unless one of these circumstances apply. Whatever the case may be, it’s helpful to seek legal counsel if you believe that the business was negligent and is at fault for your injuries.
Thank you to our friends, the slip and fall lawyers at Brandy Austin Law Firm, for the above blog.
