Grocery slip and fall accidents fall under the branch of premises liability, which allows the victims to recover damages from the property owner where the accident occurred. If the accident happened due to the defendant’s failure to maintain their property and prevent unsafe conditions, the plaintiff could sue and recover damages from them.
If you were injured inside a grocery store by slipping and falling on the floor due to spilled water or milk or perhaps something else, you might be entitled to compensation. Even though you may feel you have a strong claim, it is still important to contact a personal injury lawyer near me. It is important to understand what defenses the other party may use and how to protect yourself.
Common defenses employed by grocery stores in Slip and fall accident cases
- The hazard was open and obvious.
In order to file a successful premises liability claim, the plaintiff must show that the hazard in the grocery store was non-obvious, meaning there was no way a customer could have noticed it and taken steps to protect themselves. If the hazard was there for a long enough time or big enough to be noticed by anyone, the defendant could not be liable for the slip and fall injuries.
- Lack of notice.
One of the major parts of a premises liability claim is that the grocery store owner must have had the knowledge about the hazard to be held liable. If the owner or manager was not informed about the hazard by their workers or if the hazard was too recent to be known by the owner, they may not be liable for your injuries. The defendant can claim they did not have enough time and opportunity to remove the hazard.
- Comparative negligence.
When the defendant raises the comparative negligence defense, they are not trying to escape liability but shifting some percentage of the fault to the victim. The victim still has the chance to sue and recover compensation. However, since they have contributed fault, they receive a lower amount than what their total damages are worth. For example, if they are found to be 25% at fault, they will only be compensated for 75% of the damages.
- Reasonable care.
The defense of reasonable care is usually raised to show that the owner of the property took adequate measures to keep the property safe. This defense is helpful and more likely to win when an unforeseeable event causes an accident. Defendants usually argue that the lack of notice resulted from the event being unforeseen.
