Slip and Fall
Just because someone slips and falls and suffers injuries on someone else’s property does not automatically mean that the property owner is responsible for paying compensation for those injuries.
The property owner is only responsible for paying compensation for those injuries if the property owner was negligent and did something to cause the slip and fall.
A property owner is responsible for inspecting and maintaining their premises and for warning of any dangerous or hazardous conditions that the owner knew, or in the exercise of reasonable care, should have known existed on the property.
If something is on the floor that causes a person to slip and fall, the issue becomes whether the property owner knew, or in the exercise of reasonable care, should have known of it’s existence and should have cleaned it up or placed a warning sign.
One way to prove negligence on the part of the property owner is to prove that they did not have reasonable policies and procedures related to inspection and maintenance of the property, or that they failed to comply with existing policies and procedures.
The doctrine of comparative negligence applies in slip and fall accidents just as it applies in auto accidents.
While a person can claim that the property owner was negligent in failing to inspect or maintain their property, the property owner can claim that the injured person was comparatively negligent, that there was a combination of fault that caused the accident.
For example, if the injured person claims that the store was negligent in not picking up a banana peel, the store can claim that the injured person was negligent in not seeing the banana peel and stepping on it.
The effect of comparative negligence is that it reduces the value of the injured persons damages by the percentage of negligence attributed to the injured person.
A person injured in a slip and fall accident is entitled to obtain compensation for both economic and non-economic damages.
Economic damages are damages related to medical bills incurred, or to be incurred in the future, as well as lost income and a loss of future earnings capacity.
Non economic damages are damages related to pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life and other intangible damages related to the injuries suffered and the effect those injuries have on a persons life.
Robert G. Corirossi has been representing people involved in slip and fall accidents since 1982.
For a free consultation with a Slip and Fall Lawyer, you can contact Mr. Corirossi at (305)442-8850 X 221.