Many people view a fall as an embarrassing event and hope no one noticed. However, when someone else’s negligence is the source of the accident, it can be good to have witnesses and other evidence, particularly if you have sustained a serious injury as a result. At Cromartie Law, our legal team often provides advice to people who want to hold the responsible person liable for the physical, emotional and financial damages of a fall.
According to FindLaw, to prove that the property owner was the person responsible, you must be able to show that there was a safety hazard that led to your fall. It cannot be simply the result of your own carelessness or clumsiness, or an oversight of an obvious condition. You must also be able to show one or more of the following:
- The condition was the result of an action of the owner
- The owner did not cause the condition, but knew about it and did not fix it
- The owner did not know about the condition, but it was present long enough that he or she should have known about it and corrected it
There may also be the possibility that it was not the property owner whose actions led to the hazard, but a third party. For example, if you slipped on a recently mopped floor, it could be that the cleaning service failed to post a wet floor sign.
More information about dangerous conditions and store owner responsibilities to the public is available on our webpage.