Slip & Fall Accidents

The answer to this question depends on whether the store was aware of the hazard that caused your fall. For example, if moments earlier another customer spilled some of his or her coffee on the floor, and you step in it and slip, the store would not be liable for your injuries because the liquid wasn’t on the floor long enough for management to be aware of it or to remove it.

The court will consider whether the property owner knew or should have known about the hazard and had a “reasonable amount of time” to do something about it. For example, a retailer knows that on hot days, the overhead air conditioner drips condensation on the floor. If a customer were to slip in that water and suffer an injury, the retailer would almost certainly be liable for their injuries. However, if the manager puts a “Caution: Wet Floor” sign under the AC unit and has an employee frequently mop up the water, the court would likely side with the retailer in a premise liability case.

Cities are obligated to maintain public areas, such as sidewalks and streets, but there is no way for city governments to detect and repair every possible defect in a large area. A store owner may be found liable for injuries due to a spill that remained on the floor for several hours, but a city may fulfill its civil duties by warning the public of defects. Examples of this include using a barricade and signs to close a flooded road or spray painting an area of uneven sidewalk in a bright color to alert pedestrians of the hazard until it can be repaired.

In general, landowners owe no duty of care to trespassers, unless those trespassers are children. The Attractive Nuisance Doctrine states that when landowners are aware of hazards on their property that could be attractive to children, like swimming pools or unstable structures, the landowner must attempt to mitigate hazards or prevent children from accessing them. The reason for this law is that young children, unlike adult trespassers, do not fully understand the consequences of their actions.

Social guests are sometimes able to recover damages from their host depending on how the injury happened. Homeowners must tell their guests about or correct any dangerous conditions that guests are unlikely to recognize.

A student attacked on a college campus might be able to file a negligence action against the college. In a developing area of premises liability law, courts have found entities like universities, motels, convenience stores and shopping malls liable for attacks when they did not exercise reasonable care in protecting victims.