Business Defect or Store Defect Negligence Lawyer

Is it possible To Sue for Injuries Sustained While Visiting a Retail Store?

Legally, negligence allows injured people to recover losses caused by the carelessness of others. A person can be deemed to be negligent if they were careless under the specific circumstances of the scenario. Personal injury is the best known example of negligence, like a car crash. Negligence is however much more flexible than that and it can happen in many different contexts. Emotional harm, such as PTSD, that develops due to negligence is also cause for a lawsuit.

Negligence in retail stores often results in customers suffering personal injuries while using the store, or while they are on the premises of the store. Personal injury claims are normally as a result of slip and fall accidents, caused by weather hazards, structural defects, or many other issues. These can give rise to premise liability claims and the burden of proof is generally on the party bringing the lawsuit.

How Can a Slip and Fall Claim be Proven?

The term slip and fall refers to various different types of personal injury claims. These occur when a person slips or falls on someone else’s property due to a type of dangerous condition being present. The dangerous condition might be just about anything, including things like a broken handrail on a staircase or insufficient lighting. When an individual sustains an injury due to a slip and fall accident, there may be grounds for a premise liability claim.

Although the laws of a state specify what constitutes a slip and fall accident in that state, there are several common legal grounds that are taken into consideration by all state statutes. One example of this is that a person suing would have to prove that the owner of the property was negligent in some way. Once a plaintiff has shown that they are owed a duty of care, they need to prove that there was indeed a hazardous condition in the store.
One example involves wet floors. For a lawsuit to be successful, the store knew about the condition, but did not remedy the situation timely. The injuries must also have occurred due to the store breaching its duty to the plaintiff.

When looking at a retail store negligence case, if the injury happened while the plaintiff was in the store, a court will look at whether the store owed the plaintiff a duty of care. This depends on whether the court finds that the plaintiff was legally present in the store as a licensee, invitee, or visitor. Depending on the circumstances, some negligence claims may even be successful if the plaintiff was trespassing.

The Res Ipsa Loquitur Legal Doctrine

The Latin phrase res ipsa loquitur translates literally to “the thing speaks for itself.” A key part of all personal injury cases is the ability to show that the injury at issue was caused by the other party’s negligence or wrongdoing. There are however times when an injured party is not able to show direct evidence of negligence. California’s res ipsa loquitur doctrine fortunately means that circumstantial evidence might suffice if the injury was of a nature that wouldn’t normally happen if there was no negligence.

Purpose

The res ipsa loquitur doctrine allows an injured party to pursue a prima facie case of negligence although there is not specific evidence that the defending party was negligent, or when the plaintiff does not have access to the evidence of negligence, and only the defendant does. Injured parties may however not use res ipsa if they have direct access to evidence of negligence.

In medical malpractice cases, res ipsa is commonly used, as an injured patient often doesn’t have access to evidence of negligence by a medical professional. It may for example be used to show that medical personnel were negligent when performing surgery while the patient was sedated, and therefore not able to see or gather any evidence of negligence.

Elements

An injured person must be able to show three elements in order to prove a res ipsa loquitur claim:

• That the injury was caused by an instrumentality that was under the exclusive control of the defendant.
• That the injury did not occur due to voluntary actions by the injured party.
• That the injury was of a type that doesn’t normally happen without someone being negligent.

The sort of injury must be the type that doesn’t normally happen if the defendant had taken proper care. An individual is for example injured when the counter stool in a restaurant falls off its base. When used normally and under normal circumstances, a stool won’t fall apart if there was not some negligence.

The object that caused the accident must have been under the exclusive control of the defending party. In this example, the stool was under the sole control of the restaurant.

The accident should not have happened due to any voluntary contributions or actions by the injured party. The person in this example sat on the stool in a normal way, and only tilted it about an inch. As all three res ipsa loquitur requirements were satisfied, the doctrine was applied.

The problem with res ipsa cases is normally proving that the defendant had exclusive control. In another example, a woman walked on the sidewalk next to a hotel and was struck on the head by a chair that fell out one of the hotel’s windows. She instituted a res ipsa claim against the hotel. Although being struck by a falling chair is the type of accident that doesn’t normally happen without there being negligence, and although the actions of the woman didn’t contribute to the accident, the res ipsa claim was not successful. This was due to the fact that the hotel didn’t have exclusive control over its rooms’ furniture, as it gave its guests partial control.

Res ipsa most commonly applies to cases where there is a wet floor in a grocery store or super market.

Specific types of evidence that may help a plaintiff’s case include:

• Hospital records and doctor’s notes.
• Statements from witnesses.
• Footage from security cameras.

Are There Other Types of Claims Retail Stores Can be Sued For?

Even though the most common personal injury claim against a retail store is slip and fall, other injuries incurred in retail stores can lead to different types of legal claims and lawsuits. Examples include, but are not limited to:

Faulty Product: Injured parties may sue a retail store when injuries are caused by the store selling faulty products. A faulty product could be defined as a product that’s unreasonably dangerous when it is used for the purpose for which it was intended, without any interference or alterations. Defective products could also be ones that results in injuries to a person due to either marketing defects, manufacturing defects, or design defects.

Store Security: Store personnel are permitted to detain customers who are found shoplifting. Such action must however be performed in a manner that is reasonable, without violating any of the customer’s basic rights. They don’t for example have the right to do so using excessive force. The lack of store security leading to a plaintiff injuring themselves is another example of something a retail store may be sued for.

Runaway Object: Most retail stores have spaces that are designated to keep scooters, baskets, shopping carts, etc. Even if a store has taken these measures, injuries can be caused by a runaway cart that runs into a customer or their vehicle. The store can be held liable for those injuries.
Falling Object: An example of a falling object may include snow falling from a roof, or a product falling from the top shelf. Although retail stores normally make every effort to reduce such customer injuries, a customer may be entitled to sue the store for injuries caused by the negligence of the store.

Which Legal Remedies are Available in Retail Store Lawsuits?

Damages available to plaintiffs in retail store lawsuits will differ substantially, and these will depend on the specific circumstances of each case and state laws. Normally, injured parties can claim special and/or general compensatory damages. These are types of financial compensation by the responsible party for causing injuries, and may include:

• Medical expenses.
• Loss compensation.
• Costs associated with damaged property repairs.
• Lost wages.
• Emotional distress injuries.
• Permanent disability costs.
• Funeral expenses.
• Consortium loss.
• Ongoing medical treatment costs.

A court may also order that the store should implement new procedures, training, and/or policies to prevent comparable accidents from happening in the future.

Can Retail Stores Assert Defenses?

Retail stores commonly use the defense that the plaintiff was contributorily or comparatively negligent and that this caused their injuries. This means that the plaintiff acted in such a way that it caused them to be partially responsible for their injuries.

One example of this would be a plaintiff climbing onto a high shelf, rather than asking a store employee for assistance, and then being injured when the shelf or an item fell on them. The store may then argue that the plaintiff’s actions contributed to their injuries.

Another defense commonly used is to claim that a plaintiff did not mitigate the risks. One example of this would be of a plaintiff falling in a store, but refusing medical assistance when the store offered it. The plaintiff later developed a serious infection which resulted in them losing a leg. The store may argue that the plaintiff did not mitigate the damage when they declined medical attention.

What Steps Should be Taken When a Retail Store is Sued for Injuries?

Before filing a claim, you should ensure that there is enough evidence to support the claim. If medical attention was sought as a result of the incident, you should keep all medical communications, receipts, and/or invoices. If days of work were missed, you should request your human resources department or supervisor to provide documentation. A copy of a police report should also be kept if one was filed. This also applies if the store filed their own incident report.

Experienced personal injury attorneys that specialize in store injuries may help you organize and gather all the evidence required for a successful retail store lawsuit. The negligence lawyer will help you ensure that evidence recorded by the store, including video evidence is preserved, and won’t be destroyed in accordance with their retention policies.

Can Stores be Sued for Discrimination?

A store can be sued for discrimination. Even though privately owned businesses have the right to deny service, this doesn’t cover discrimination. Discrimination happens when an individual is mistreated due to them being part of a protected class. Protected classes include:

• Sexuality and/or gender.
• National origin and/or race.
• Religion.
• Pregnancy and/or any other disability.

If it can be prove that a retail store discriminated against an individual, they may be entitled to damages if a suit is brought against the store.
Should an Attorney be Contacted When I Want to Sue a Retail Store?

If you have suffered an injury due to a retail store being negligent, you should consult a knowledgeable and skilled personal injury negligence lawyer near your location immediately. A personal injury lawyer can give you advice on your rights, and also provide information on the state’s laws.
They can also assist you in gathering evidence and file a lawsuit on your behalf against the retail store. An attorney will also be able to represent you in court, if necessary. Contact the Rozhik Law Firm PLLC Today.