An experienced Arizona slip and fall lawyer knows that many accidents occur when people are doing commonplace things. In doing so, not expecting danger, they let their guard down. One place that this happens all too frequently is a grocery or department store. In addition to being a place where most people feel relaxed, it’s also a place where people’s minds tend to be focused on their shopping and not their surroundings. (Indeed, all of the bright colors, signs and products are intended for you to look at them, and not at the floor.)
Does this mean then that a person who does take a fall in a supermarket has no legal remedy if they were thinking about which brand of peaches to buy when it happened? Of course not! However, the responsibility of the store owner is not automatic. The law imposes a duty on all of us to be reasonably careful–not to be perfect. If the accident happens as a result of YOUR inattention, then you may well be at fault for your own injuries. However, if it happens because of someone else’s failures, then the result may be different. How are you to know? Enter, an experienced slip and fall lawyer.
An experienced Slip and Fall Lawyer will know that most slip and fall cases occur when someone doesn’t take proper care of their property. In the context of a supermarket, several people may be responsible for the harm their carelessness -causes. It may be the case that a store clerk didn’t dry the floor properly after mopping, or, didn’t take any measure to warn shoppers of the wet floor.
Victims who are injured because of the poor maintenance typically need to be able to prove that the person responsible knew or had reason to know that the property was unsafe. If part of the clerk’s duties include making sure the floors are clean and suitable for customers to walk on, there is a case to be made that the clerk “should have known” of the unsafe condition of the floor.
Of course, as an Arizona slip and fall lawyer knows, it is the store’s responsibility to ensure their employees do a good job. Arizona law recognizes this reality with a concept called “respondeat superior”, a concept dating back to Roman law. It says that the employer is responsible for the conduct or misconduct of its employees. The employer is the one in the best position to set a proper course of policies and procedures for a clean and safe store.
The employer is in the best position to decide what people to hire, how to train them and how to supervise them. As employees are acting for their employer’s benefit, the law puts the onus on the employer to provide safe premises. Can we really expect an employee to go out and but their own liability insurance for this circumstance? Of course not. That is a responsibility the law rightly places on the employer.
A specialized phoenix slip and fall attorney knows to look beyond slick floors for the causes of accidents in grocery stores. Accidents can also happen when people are using defective shopping carts or reaching into freezer cases with malfunctioning doors.
In this situation, the responsibility is again on the store for not keeping these items in good working order, but it’s also possible that the manufacturer of the item is at fault. The investigation is crucial, and an experienced Arizona slip and fall lawyer is best to determine what the focus of the investigation should be.
Of course, sometimes the person who fell is partly to blame for the accident. Arizona uses a comparative fault system, which means that when an accident occurs, the law requires each person who has some fault to bear their fair share of responsibility for the incident. For example, if a jury determines that a person who fell is 50% responsible for the accident, and the store is 50% responsible, then the store would be required to pay for only 50% of the value of the claim. I think we can all agree that this concept is extremely fair in these types of cases. Your Arizona Slip and Fall Lawyer will have more information.
Simple falls can sometimes result in injuries that can make life very complicated. Everyone, regardless of age or physical condition, can be seriously hurt in a fall, and if you are, it could days, weeks, months or years before you’re back to full mobility. In the meantime, your medical care and physical therapy bills will be piling up and you may not be able to work. Worse yet, sometimes you can’t really tell how badly you’re hurt right away. Delay can result in significant complications.