Not All Wet Floors Are Premises Liability

Every law student who takes a tort law class in his or her first year, or even any prospective plaintiff in a premises liability lawsuit who has gotten far enough in the case to start watching YouTube videos about premises liability law has heard the classic premises liability scenario where a customer gets injured after slipping on a wet floor at a place of business such as a supermarket or restaurant. The plaintiff can win the case by proving that the defendant, the place of business, was negligent by letting the floor stay wet for as long as it did or for leaving the area accessible to customers when a known hazard was present. Negligence arising from wet floors at places of business is a slipperier situation than it might seem at first. Whether a wet floor at a place of business constitutes negligence depends on what kind of place of business it is. The floor of a big box store or electronics that sells clothing should not be wet unless someone has just mopped the floor. Meanwhile, if it is a restaurant or supermarket, it is almost inevitable that liquids will get spilled on the floor sometimes. In that case, the question is not whether the water spill constituted negligence, because it almost certainly didn’t. Instead, the question is whether the staff left the spill there for an unreasonably long time. If you got injured by slipping on a wet floor at a place of business where wet floors are a regular occurrence, contact a Fort Lauderdale premises liability lawyer.

Court Rules in Favor of Laundromat in Premises Liability Lawsuit

Going to the laundromat is supposed to be an uneventful experience. You just sit there and scroll through your phone until your clothes are clean and dry. In the days before smartphones, laundromat visits were even more uneventful. When a woman went to Laundromax in the summer of 2003, she was expecting the experience to be as boring as it was every time she washed her clothes there, which was almost every week. Instead, as soon as she entered the laundromat, she slipped on a liquid that had been spilled near the entrance. She fell on the concrete floor and hit her head. Her injuries were not life-threatening, but they were serious enough to require hospitalization.

She sued Laundromax for premises liability, requesting compensation for her accident-related medical expenses. The court ruled in favor of Laundromax. While she proved that the slippery liquid was on the floor of the laundromat, she did not prove that it had been there long enough that employees of the laundromat should have noticed it. Furthermore, the court reasoned that customers should expect wet floors at laundromats.

Set Up a Consultation Today

A personal injury lawyer can help you get justice after a preventable accident where a customer slipped on a wet floor at a place of business.  Contact Boone & Davis in Fort Lauderdale, Florida or call 954-566-9919 to explore your potential recovery options today.

Source:

scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=9092725695230945246&q=premises+liability&hl=en&as_sdt=4,10&as_ylo=2010&as_yhi=2020