Slip and Fall Injury – Determining whose fault it is

by Guest » Tue Feb 03, 2009 11:39 am
Guest

Accidents occur anywhere and slipping and falling is a very common accident. Although it is common the damages it can cause can sometimes be really big and expensive to repair, treat or replace. You may sustain cuts, bruises or smaller damages. Again, you may also sustain fractures, broken bones, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries or other serious damages for which you may need expensive medical treatments

Who can seek compensation?

If you slip and fall on someone else's property and hurt yourself for no fault of yours but for the negligence of the owner of the property then the property owner will be liable for your injuries. Many of you may have slip and fall injuries on someone else's property but only sometimes the property owner is responsible and sometimes you are responsible for your own injuries.

A property owner, however, will not be responsible or liable for your injuries that can be caused by something common. If you slip on a floor and hurt yourself because there was some object on the floor, the property owner may not always be responsible. There are factors that help determine this. Here are a few questions you can ask:
  • Was the object there for many days and hadn't been removed? If it was there for a relatively long time that must have been enough for the property owner to notice and get it cleaned/removed.
  • Did the property owner have information about the object and yet he chose to ignore it?
  • Does the owner have a regular process of cleaning or examining the premises? If yes, then there must be a proof of such maintenance.
  • Was there any logical or legitimate reason for the oil to be there on the ground? If yes, then was there any notification or warning sign about the oil being there.
  • Was there a safer place where it could have been put?

Although there isn't enough or rather precise ways to determine whose fault it is in accidents like these, it largely depends on how responsible the property owner has been to make sure that no one gets hurt in his premises. Below are few of the factors when you can claim liability:
  • The premise owner or an employee must have caused a spill on the floor, a worn or caused a slippery or dangerous surface.
  • The premise owner must have chosen to be ignorant about any dangerous signs in his premise that could hurt others.

If you have the answers in your favor then there is a good chance you can claim. You cannot always find adequate proof for this but judges and juries deciding a case need to use their common sense to make a decision.

Related Readings

I slipped and fell March 2008 on a rug that was floating on a large puddle of water at a grocery store ice machine. rug flew out I went up the down and I stuck my hand down to catch myself as I fell back. The manager came over and while I was laying onthe floor, told me they had just had the machine worked on. As a result of my fall, 1st had to cancel a big first easter gathering at our home. I strained the tendons in both knees, strained the tendons of the pelvic girdle, now have 4 bulging disks in my back and have nerve damage in my arm and hand. I had 2 MRIs 1 surgery on my arm, 5 sessions of deep tissue needle therapy on my back, 2 sessions of Physical therapy. I have missed a total of 102 days of work, currently can only work half days because I can not sit and work at the computer all day.
My attorney says he is going after Medical, Future Medical (i might have to have another surgery on hand), loss of furture earnings, pain and suffering and Liability. He has not put a number on it but the store's attorney says they want to settle sooner rather than later. The store manager said in deposition that yes the machine was leaking, yes I fell on the rug. the assistand manager said in her statement almost word for word what I said in mine.
How to they figure out what the settlement should be?

Total Comments: 128

Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 10:00 pm Post Subject:

I had to quit my job because my injury caused me to take many LOA and any further LOA's would not be job protected. So I quit before they got rid of me once I had surgery.

wait a second...

Did I make a mistake doing this?

yeah, I think maybe you (and/or they) did....Do you not have any short and long term disability protection or policy with them? Also why wouldn't you take FMLA?

My employer is the biggest healthcare provider in my state and I did not want to burn my bridge for when I am ok to work again.

Did they tell you that you were going to be let go? i don't understand why someone didn't counsel you in FMLA..or if you have a disability policy/coverage that wasn't discussed...Do you also have your health insurance with your employer? If so then who paid for you medical bills?

Also, are settlements usually 2-3times your medical bills or not?

no, that's a a myth really...They certainly will owe your medical bills, your loss wages, (not after you quit, but lost wages while you were working) plus an injury settlement assuming they accept liability for the accident...Have they? Have you talked to an adjuster from this company? Do they (the adjuster) know you are ready to talk settlement? What if any discussion about negligence/liability has there been? (don't get mad at me now, just playing devils advocate :wink: ) I could see them putting some percentage of the liability on you, since you walked in the door, therefore knew it was like that. Is this the first time you have ever been there? Also what state did this occur in? and have you EVER had any other slip and fall/work comp claims, and/or ANY problems with that ankle before?

Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 02:25 pm Post Subject: RE:

Thanks for replying!
FMLA in Wisconsin only allows up to 6 weeks job protected leave. I had a surgery in April last year that used up 4 weeks and then when I injured my ankle I used a total of 5 weeks. The last time I needed to take leave I was told that it was not job protected and that they could not guarantee my job. I asked my boss specifically if I was going to have a job when I got back (I had a cast put on to immobilize my ankle) and he said that he could not say yes or no.
My insurance through my job paid for my medical bills, but I had a $5000 deductible. So pretty much everything before my surgery was out of pocket.
I had been at this sub shop a couple times but there are 2 entrances. The first entrance is fine. I usually go in that door. This time I had parked in a different spot and came in this particular door. I did not notice the ledge when I came in. I must have stepped up right at the right time and then didn't notice it. When I was walking out, I stepped down expecting an even surface and there was not. The owner and employees have acknowledged the danger in the step. The owners insurance wrote to me and is denying any fault and that it is the buildings owners fault. So there are 2 ins. companies fighting it out.
Thanks!

Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 09:10 pm Post Subject:

What has the carrier that insures the building had to say?

Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 06:14 pm Post Subject:

The building owners insurance company is being pretty good about it. They have offered $5000 right now to pay for my copays and deductibles until a settlement has been reached. Whatever we use of the $5000 gets deducted out of the settlement amount.
So there are 2 insurance companies coming into play with this. I have a feeling it is going to be them battling out who is at fault.
I am meeting with the lawyer tomorrow to go over how things are going to happen. Do you have any suggestions on questions I should ask? I am completely clueless on all of this!

Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 06:34 pm Post Subject: Slip and Fall UPDATE

2 1/2 YEARS and counting:
Just thought I would get you guys an update on my Slip and Fall case.
We went to settlement mediation (state ordered) with the Grocery store and let me tell you, that was a eye opener. let me set the stage for you. My current medical is at $90,000 and still have another surgery and future medical. the stores opening statement was, Yes the machine was leaking, wow look at her fall on the stores bad video, yes we own the ice machine BUT we don't think we should have to pay for her injuries. We think the refrigeration maintenance co is at fault. Since WE do not want to bring them into the lawsuit because we have a good 20 year working relationship with them WE will have an empty chari defence. The stores opening offer was $20,000. WHAT did I hear them right. We were suppose to be in mediation for 3 hours. after 8 1/2 hours they had come up to $100,000 and I was ready to go, I was sooo DONE.

Since that time my attorney has ammended our lawsuit and dragged the refrigeration co into the lawsuit. When he depo'ed the refrigeration guy he said that the leak would NOT have happened had they maintanined the machine like they were suppose to. BINGO. My attorney says the Ref. Co is neglient for the leak and the store is negligent for the water on the floor. He is going after both of them.

We have ANOTHER settlement mediation meeting with both store and Refrigeration co middle of July and if we STILL do not settle then we are on the trial docket for August.

I can tell you I have learned more about doctors, back and nerve injuries and lawsuits then I ever wanted to know.

ANYONE think they will actually settle this time around?

Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 10:40 pm Post Subject:

We think the refrigeration maintenance co is at fault. Since WE do not want to bring them into the lawsuit because we have a good 20 year working relationship with them WE will have an empty chari defence.

Perfectly good/reasonable and sounds like, correct defense. If someone else is partially at fault it's not the stores fault that you don't want to collect from this party.

I was about to say that frankly I did not understand why your attorney had not talked you into bring in the refridge company but then I read the rest of your post:

Since that time my attorney has ammended our lawsuit and dragged the refrigeration co into the lawsuit.

I have no idea why this was not done before the mediation. Not doing this just wasted everyone's time as it left a huge gap in the settlement for everyone. No matter what amount you were looking for, how was the store supposed to reach that amount without knowing what amount the refridge company might offer? Can you see it from the stores perspective? I'm guessing the store did not have a contract with the refridge company or the store should have brought them in as 3rd party defendant (I can't stress enough to any business how important it is to have a _written_ contract).

My attorney says the Ref. Co is neglient for the leak and the store is negligent for the water on the floor. He is going after both of them.

No offense against your attorney but this is why I said he was wasting everyone's time in having event the mediation without naming the refridge company. If the insurance companies attorney did not point this out to your attorney, I'd blame them as well.

ANYONE think they will actually settle this time around?

First let me say that I've been to hundreds of mediation/arbitrations but always for the insurance company. So win/lose... it's never my money. So when I attend a mediation it means I have a chance to close a claim. It's also easy work as, and you found this out, it's a lot of waiting around.

Something settling in mediation is _always_ 50/50. There is not way to tell. It can settle if you are willing to accept what is offered... it can settle if the insurance company is willing to pay what your asking. Usually a settlement happens when both parties are willing to compromise and take/offer a little less/more then they want. What usually happens is that the mediator (if he/she is good) will beat each party up enough through the day until they are both willing to give up a little. Personally, I think most settlements come about because the mediator is good at what he/she does.

The way I look at it, from either side, is that the attorney needs to convince the mediator that their case is _perfect_. How this is done is almost an art. In some cases the attorney might need to stroke the mediator. This might mean "seeing" the mediators point and offer some very good counter points. This might mean pointing out the "obvious" weaknesses of the other parties case. There are many ways to do this and this is why some attorneys do better then others.

Personally, I'm a little worried that your attorney did not being int he refridge company from the very start. I'm not an attorney but this would have been the _first_ thing I did. The more money bags at the table, the better. If you don't think they should pay, you could always be willing to let them go for nothing or very little. But at least you'd have their info through depos. As you can see... it turned out to be _very_ important!

Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 11:27 pm Post Subject: Slip and Fall Injury - Determining whose at fault

I know that the store had a service agreement with the refrigeration co but I do not know the details. the store always said that THEY were going to bring them into it. They kept heming and hawing and saying they hated to do it because they had a long standing 20 yr working relation with them. When the store attorney said they would go forward without bring them in and said they would have an Empty Chair defense my attorney totally lost it and slammed his fist down and said Oh NO we will NOT. then he told them that we were ammending out lawsuit to include them, so we did and now all depo's except my hubbys (which the stores attorneys are doing 2 days BEFORE the settlement mediation (nothing like waiting till the last minute, right?).

QUESTION: I have $105,000 I was told (NOT by attorney) that the pain and suffering is normally 3 to 5 times the medical. Do you know if that is a general rule of thumb.

I know what our bottom is for settlement and I know what my attorney says that the case is worth but I was just curious if that 3 to 5 times is right

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 12:16 am Post Subject:

QUESTION: I have $105,000 I was told (NOT by attorney) that the pain and suffering is normally 3 to 5 times the medical. Do you know if that is a general rule of thumb

Hear this a lot and it's just not correct as it _never_ takes into consideration 1) what the injury was (a stubed toe is worth a lot less then a missing limb and 2) what the treatment and lasting affects are.

Some minor injuries need a lot of ongoing treatment. Some injuries people never heal from. Some big injuries need very little treatment. The 2x or 3x thought does not consider any of this. Heck, I've seen some people treat a soft tissue injury for 6 months (over treatment).

Adjuster don't (and by law) cannot apply "rules of thumb" to an injury. They need to consider each one separately.... based on that particular claim. This is where some companies got into trouble when using computer programs to estimate settlements. While they can be used to give a "general" idea of what a claim is worth, they can't be used as the only means.

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 12:49 am Post Subject: Slip and Fall injury - determining whose fault it is

Thanks TCOPE. Injuries where do I begin. Injuries include permanent nerve damage to the ulna nerve in arm, 3 bulging disks in lumbar spine that are pressing on sciatica nerve, straining in the pelvic girdle and strained tendons in knees. Treatments 2 MRIs, 2 nerve tests, 8 weeks of phy therapy, 1 arm surgery, 5 weeks of phy therapy, 1 steroid shot in knee, 3 single steroid shots in spine, 1 three shot series in spine, 5 sessions of Percutaneous Neuromodulation Therapy (electrified needle therapy on back), too many to count pain pills and muscle relaxers. Orthopeadic dr says numbness in name is permanent, Pain Management (anestologist) says the back is as good as it is gonna get and will need the shots the rest of my llife. I am so afraid of getting hooked on the pain meds that I stop taking them and just stay in pain all the time.

It is hard when you go from active and never having any knee/back/hand problems to having so much pain.

Right now I do not think they have enough money to pay me for my pain. I told my family I should have let them starve on the Easter (Good Friday) that I fell.

Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2010 03:22 am Post Subject: slip and fall

I was walking through a local department/ grocery store. I noticed a small puddle of water on the floor. I walked around it only to slip on some sort of oil. I slid approximately three feet before falling and landing on my right knee. I have a rod in my leg from a previous injury. So, surprisingly, because of the rod, my tib/fib seems ok (so far). It is my knee that is messed up. A store employee witnessed my fall, as well as a friend I was with. The manager showed up as I was attempting to get myself off the floor. She and my friend both took pictures of the water, oil, and my my red, bruised, and swollen knee and ankle. Because I was unable to put any pressure on my leg at all, I was taken to the ER. At the hospital, x-rays were taken. I was told that I had a sprained ankle and that I needed to make an apt with my orthopedic surgeon to evaluate my knee injury and go from there. The evening of the incident, my lower back started really hurting. It is extremely painful and swollen. So now I am in a leg brace from my ankle to my thigh. I am on meds for the pain, but I am having a hard time doing even the smallest chore. I have an event planning business and everything has been put on hold until I am back on my feet. I guess my question is whether I am entitled to some sort of compensation...even if it is just for my medical costs.

Add your comment

Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.
Get new captcha!