Articles Posted in Slip and Fall

Maguire v. City of Providence, a case from the Rhode Island Supreme Court, involved plaintiff who was disabled and walking with a crutch when the crutch got stuck in a hole in the sidewalk pavement. This caused her to lose her balance and fall onto the sidewalk. She suffered various personal injuries as a result of this fall.

The sidewalk where she fell was in front of land owned by a developer and leased by a retail store and a restaurant. Plaintiff filed a civil negligence action against retail store, restaurant, and the city of Providence treasurer. The complaint included state negligence claims and federal disability claims.
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Slip-and-accidents can result in serious personal injury to plaintiffs. Zuppardi v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., an appeal heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, involved a plaintiff who went to a big box retail store (“defendant”) along with her brother and son.

Plaintiff took a shopping cart from the front of store and pushed it down a highly-trafficked walkway known in the industry as an “action alley.” Plaintiff was walking at normal speed and did not see any other customers around her when she slipped and fell in a puddle of what she believes to be water. She landed on a concrete floor. She believed the puddle of liquid was water, because it was colorless odorless.

Plaintiff testified it was about two feet across and blended in with the floor very well. According to court records, there were no warning cones or danger signs or footprints or shopping cart tracks around the puddle, and she did not know how it got there.
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Our slip and fall attorneys in Boston understand the importance of establishing a duty of care is owed in a negligence lawsuit.

In Burns v. City of Centralia, a case from the Illinois Supreme Court, plaintiff was injured when she tripped and fell on uneven sidewalk. Plaintiff drove to an eye clinic for an examination. When she arrived at the clinic location, she chose to park on the street, rather thank parking in the clinic parking lot. She had done this on nine prior visits to the eye clinic.

While walking from her car to the clinic, plaintiff stubbed her toe on the uneven sidewalk. After stubbing her toe, she tripped and fell to the ground, injuring her arm, knee, and leg. According to court records, plaintiff saw the sidewalk defect and had been aware of it from her visits. There was testimony that there was no way you could miss this defect in the sidewalk. During her walk to the clinic, she was focused on the door and the steps leading up to the door.
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In Henkel v. Norman, an appeal from the Supreme Court of Texas, a mail carrier was injured after he fell on ice one January day. According to court records, plaintiff was delivering mail on a day that was colder than normal. The National Weather Service had issued a hard freeze warning through the weekend.

The plaintiff walked on the sidewalk in front of some homes and walk on the lawns of other homes when delivering mail. When his accident occurred, he was walking through defendant’s lawn. Defendant was standing at the door when plaintiff arrived so she took the mail from him. When he turned around to leave, defendant said “don’t slip.” Despite her warning, plaintiff slipped and fell on the ice.

Plaintiff denied having seen any ice on the defendant’s lawn prior to his fall. He sued defendant on claims that homeowners were aware of the ice accumulation on their property and did nothing to remove it or warn people of the danger of the ice.

Defendant filed a motion for summary judgment and trial judge dismissed the plaintiff’s case. The judge ruled that there was no dispute of material fact at issue in this case and that the defendant had explicitly and in no uncertain terms warned the plaintiff to be careful about the ice right before he fell.

As your Boston personal injury lawyer can explain, a motion for summary judgment is a motion to dismiss a claim, or the entire case. The moving party (normally the defendant) asserts that there is no genuine dispute as to material facts. Essentially, they are saying that if you take all of the facts in the best light of the non-moving party, the non-moving party (normally the plaintiff) still cannot win the case. In the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a motion for summary judgment is contained in Rule 56 of the Rules of Civil Procedure.
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Durban v. Waverly Sales Company, an appeal argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, involved a woman who attended a horse auction with her husband. The arena was set up in such a way that there were bleachers erected around the show floor. The plaintiff and her husband were sitting in the bleachers on the northeast side. During the auction, she left her seat to go the restroom.

In order to get to the restroom, the plaintiff had to walk down an alley created at the northeast end of the arena between the bleachers. This is the same alley that the horses were led down after they were sold. While returning from the restroom, the plaintiff tripped and fell to the ground. At this point, an employee opened a door overhead that caused a horse to become startled.

The startled horse trampled the plaintiff, and she was very seriously injured. The plaintiff sued the defendant for personal injury, claiming that the show presenter was negligent for arranging the seats in such a way that people had to walk down the same alley as the horses. Additionally, she alleged the worker’s negligent opening of the door that startled the horses.

Our Boston personal injury lawyers know that companies often do whatever they can to get a case dismissed.
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Our Boston fall injury lawyers know premises liability law in Massachusetts is distinct from many other states.

In Demag v. Better Power Equipment, an appeal heard by the Vermont Supreme Court, the plaintiff worked at a car dealership. One of the services offered by the dealership was that they would pick up the customer’s car and return with the car after service was completed.

The plaintiff was a driver who would drive his own car to the location where the customers’ cars were, leave his car, and return to the dealership with the customers’ cars. The plaintiff was responsible for picking up the cars owned by the defendant and his wife several times a year.
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According to the Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association, more than one million patrons of restaurants slip and fall each year. In addition, another three million food service employees are involved in a restaurant slip and fall. With so many falls and resulting injuries, the food service industry spends more than $2 billion on these injuries annually. The number of injuries and the money lost may also be growing, as the Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association reports that the rate of injuries in restaurants is increasing by about 10 percent annually.

Our Boston personal injury attorneys urge every restaurant owner and patron to be aware of the large number of slip and fall accidents in restaurants. We also wish to remind patrons and restaurant owners that the owner or renter/occupier has a duty to make sure the premises is reasonably safe for visitors who enter the restaurant.

How Restaurants Can Help Guests Stay Safe from Slip and Fall Accidents
Restaurants have a duty to their patrons to provide them with a reasonably safe environment. Because those who visit a restaurant are paying guests invited to the restaurant to do business, the owner or operator of the restaurant must regularly inspect the premises for any potential dangers that could impact the patrons. If there is a potential hazard or danger in the restaurant, then the owner or operator either needs to fix it (or have it fixed) so it is no longer dangerous or needs to warn patrons about the hazard when repair isn’t an option.

If a restaurant owner/operator fails to do as required and a patron is hurt as a result, the restaurant can be sued by the injured victim or by the victim’s surviving family members. As such, restaurant owners/operators should take affirmative steps to keep their guests safe and to avoid a potential lawsuit. These restaurants should:

• Wipe up any spills immediately.
• Warn patrons of wet floors and/or only mop/wash floors when the restaurant is closed
• Ensure the restaurant is adequately lit to avoid a tripping hazard
• Keep walkways and aisles free of debris or dirt that could create a tripping hazard
• Maintain their parking lot to avoid fall risks

Inspecting the restaurant regularly for any potentially hazardous conditions is also important to avoiding injury and legal liability.

How Patrons Can Stay Safe from Slip and Fall Injuries
While the restaurant owner or operator is responsible for maintaining a safe premises, individuals visiting restaurants should also be aware of the potential risk and should do everything possible to stay safe. This includes watching for wet and slippery floors (especially when there are icy conditions outside and ice could be dragged inside). This also includes avoiding over-crowded and narrow restaurant aisles and being on the lookout for potential hazards and debris that could create a tripping risk.

Visitors to restaurants should avoid open and obvious hazards or dangers, but it is the job of the restaurant to take responsibility for making sure that no hidden or unexpected fall risks exist.
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