What Must You Prove in a Premises Liability Case?
You’re walking through a store when you slip on a wet floor. A broken handrail gives way as you head down a flight of stairs. An escalator suddenly malfunctions. Or you’re assaulted in a parking garage where inadequate security may have left visitors vulnerable.
When you visit a store, restaurant, hotel, apartment building or other property, you have a reasonable expectation that the premises will be safe. Property owners and others responsible for maintaining a property generally have a duty to take reasonable steps to protect lawful visitors from dangerous conditions.
When they fail to do so and someone gets hurt, the result may be a premises liability claim.
What Makes a Property Dangerous?
A property doesn’t have to be falling apart to pose a danger. Sometimes, a seemingly minor problem can cause a serious injury. Depending on the circumstances, dangerous property conditions may include:
- Slip-and-fall hazards, such as wet floors, icy sidewalks, and uneven pavement. Even torn carpeting or cluttered walkways can pose a hazard.
- Poor maintenance, including broken handrails, uneven stairs, or deteriorating floors. Equipment such as elevators and escalators can malfunction, posing a risk of injury.
- Dim lighting in stairwells, hallways, walkways or parking areas that makes hazards difficult to see.
- Inadequate security, such as broken locks or insufficient security measures in areas where criminal activity may be reasonably foreseeable.
- Hazardous substance exposure, including lead paint, asbestos or mold.
One of the important questions in many premises liability cases is whether the person responsible for the property knew, or reasonably should have known, about the dangerous condition and had an opportunity to correct it or warn visitors.
For example, if a drink spills in a grocery store and a shopper slips seconds later, the store may not have had a reasonable opportunity to discover the spill. But if employees knew about a leaking refrigerator that had repeatedly left water on the floor and failed to address it, the situation may be very different.
Who Does a Property Owner Have to Protect?
Traditionally, premises liability law has distinguished among different types of visitors, although the specific rules vary by state.
- Invitees are generally people invited onto a property for a business purpose, such as customers at a store, diners at a restaurant or guests at a hotel. Property owners typically have significant responsibilities to take reasonable precautions to keep these visitors safe, which may include inspecting the premises, making repairs and warning of hazards.
- Licensees are people who are permitted to be on the property for their own purposes, such as social guests. A property owner may still have a responsibility to warn them about certain known dangers.
- Trespassers enter a property without permission and generally receive fewer legal protections. However, property owners cannot intentionally create hazards to injure trespassers. Special rules may also apply when children are injured by an “attractive nuisance,” such as an unsecured swimming pool or another dangerous feature likely to attract children.
What Must You Prove in a Premises Liability Case?
Getting hurt on someone else’s property does not automatically mean the property owner was negligent. Generally, an injured person must establish several elements.
There must have been a duty of care owed under the circumstances. The responsible party must have breached that duty by failing to act reasonably. That failure must have caused or contributed to the injury, and the injured person must have suffered actual damages as a result.
Those damages may include medical expenses, lost wages, diminished earning capacity, and compensation for pain, suffering or emotional distress, depending on the circumstances and applicable law.
When a Property Owner Disputes Responsibility
Even when an injury occurs because of a dangerous condition, the property owner or insurance company may argue that they should not be held responsible.
For example, they may contend that the danger was open and obvious, that they did not know and could not reasonably have known about the hazard, or that the injured person’s own actions contributed to the accident. Other defenses may involve assumption of risk or whether the injured person had permission to be on the property.
These questions can become even more complicated when an accident occurs on a rental property. A landlord may be responsible for maintaining common areas such as hallways, stairways and parking lots, while tenants generally have responsibility for conditions within their individual units. But leases, maintenance agreements and the specific circumstances surrounding an accident can affect who may ultimately be responsible.
What to Do When You are Injured on Someone Else’s Property
What you do immediately after an injury can be important both for your health and for preserving information about what happened.
First, seek appropriate medical attention, even if you initially believe the injury is minor. Some injuries may become more apparent in the hours or days after an accident.
If you are able, document the scene before the condition changes. Take photographs or video of the hazard and the surrounding area. Get contact information from witnesses and make note of anything that may be relevant, such as poor lighting, missing warning signs or surveillance cameras nearby.
You should also report the incident to the property owner, manager or other person in charge and ask that an incident report be completed. Keep copies of medical records, bills, correspondence and other documents related to your injury.
An attorney can investigate further by gathering evidence, reviewing maintenance and inspection records, identifying responsible parties and determining whether surveillance footage or other evidence exists. Depending on the case, the next steps may involve negotiating with an insurance company or filing a lawsuit and proceeding through discovery and, if necessary, trial.
If you or a loved one has been injured on someone else’s property, and you believe there was negligence involved, consider consulting with a top Philadelphia premises liability injury attorney to discuss your options. Please contact us today.