People visiting a business usually expect the facilities to be safe. Companies that make their premises open to the public should ensure that people can use them as intended without being put at unnecessary risk. When business owners do not properly maintain their facilities or when they make questionable staffing decisions, they may expose visitors to unexpected risks.
In some cases, the people attempting to visit or patronize a business could sustain significant injuries due to slip-and-fall incidents. Perhaps another visitor or even an employee dropped something on the floor, such as a coffee. Maybe there are tripping hazards inside the business that cause a visitor to fall and get hurt.
Slip-and-fall incidents can produce relatively significant injuries, including brain injuries and broken bones. When do visitors injured in slip-and-fall incidents potentially have the right to file premises liability lawsuits against the business?
When negligence caused their injuries
Businesses generally carry premises liability insurance that can compensate those hurt due to unsafe property conditions. Even with insurance coverage, litigation may be necessary for injured people to obtain appropriate compensation after an injury on private property. People filing premises liability lawsuits need evidence that they sustained losses and that the business or property owner was at fault.
When the courts hear personal injury lawsuits related to premises liability, negligence is often the basis for the compensation claim. The attorney representing the injured person tries to show that the business failed in its duty of care.
Frequently, negligence claims and premises liability lawsuits relate to a failure to do what is necessary for safety. Most people understand that rugs are important for collecting moisture and dirt tracked in by visitors. However, those rugs could become a tripping hazard if the business fails to clean them or keep them properly anchored by the door.
If a reasonable adult acknowledges that the business failed to do what is necessary for visitor safety, then the plaintiff may have grounds for a premises liability lawsuit. Deferred maintenance and understaffing, as well as inadequate employee training, could all be sources of actionable negligence.
If better business practices could have prevented the incident that caused serious injuries, then the injured party may have grounds for a premises liability lawsuit. Reviewing the circumstances of a slip-and-fall can help the injured party explore their options.