Duty of care: You must be able to prove that the owner of the store had a duty to make sure that you were safe on their property. In the case of a retail or department store, the property and store owner has a duty to exercise reasonable care and maintenance to ensure a safe premise. Examples of these duties include keeping floors dry, warning customers of potentially dangerous conditions, and preventing falling items from shelves.
As a customer to a store, the law would classify you as an Invitee. An invitee has been invited into the property for business purposes, so the property and store owners have a higher duty of care to make sure their premises is safe.
Breach: You must be able to show that the property owner did not abide by that duty or legal obligation and failed to provide a safe premises. You must prove that the owner knew or should have known that unsafe conditions existed in their property. Store employees are hired to help the store owners ensure their property is safe and clean for customers, so if the employees fail to do that job, their negligence may be shifted to the owner.
If you were injured due to a hazard such as a spilled milk carton, malfunctioning shopping carts, or a bunched-up floor mat, the store failing to correct that hazard in a reasonable amount of time is a breach of their duty to keep the premises safe. Today, most retail stores have cameras throughout the store for store security. Hiring an attorney quickly after sustaining injuries helps ensure these video recordings are preserved to help prove their breach.
Causation: In addition to proving a duty to exercise reasonable care and a breach of that duty, you will have to prove that your serious injury was caused by the premises’ owner’s negligent acts. The defendant’s negligence must be the substantial factor in causing your injuries. This is where it is very important to have documented evidence, photographs, and medical records.
Things like poor lighting in the stores and parking lots, water or other spilled liquids in the store aisles, a lack of wet floor and warning signs, can all lead to injury, and it’s important to gather evidence as soon as possible before the store corrects the issue that caused your injuries.
Damages: In order to recover damages, you must prove that you actually suffered damages and that the injury occurred as a result of the defendant’s negligence. Damages aren’t just medical expenses, but also include lost wages, severe pain and suffering, and further harm the incident caused to you and your family.
The store’s insurance company may reach out early on in an attempt to settle your personal injury claim by just offering the emergency room or medical bills in hopes of getting out of the claim cheaply. Insurance companies hope that you don’t realize how large your compensation claim could be.
This is why Hughes & Coleman offers a free consultation to help you evaluate your legal remedies and see how much financial compensation you are really entitled to.