On behalf of Smiley & Smiley, LLP posted in Premises Liability on Sunday, November 8, 2015.

Any retail business in New York may potentially be liable for a customer's injuries occurring on the company's premises. The most common way in which this happens is in slip and fall cases. Where the business invites customers onto the property, it may be held financially responsible to compensate the customer for injuries suffered due to the proprietor's negligence.

In one case in another state, a man is suing a restaurant for a Sept. 28 incident where he fell on a buildup of water and condensation on the floor. The lawsuit claims that the restaurant owners knew or reasonably should have known of the dangerous condition that is said to have accumulated on a regular basis. In slip and fall cases, prior knowledge by the owner of the dangerous condition is a key fact that a plaintiff seeks to prove.

Because the proprietor has a duty to its business customers to keep the premises free from dangerous conditions, and even to inspect it for such conditions, the proprietor may be found liable if the surrounding facts lead to an inference of knowledge of the dangerous condition. Here, the water buildup is alleged to be a regularly occurring condition, thus indicating circumstantial evidence of the proprietor's knowledge of it, or that it should have reasonably known of the condition. With that knowledge, the proprietor should have acted to remove or repair the condition to make it safe for customers.

Alternatively, the owner may be liable for not placing warnings at the site to prevent customers from slipping and falling. Importantly, the plaintiff asserts serious injuries, including a displaced oblique fracture to the proximal diaphysis of the right fibula bone and ankle, which required surgery. The law of negligence in New York and other states indicates that these facts, if proven, generally give the plaintiff a reasonably strong chance to recover damages.

Source: setexasrecord.com, "Texas man sues The Cajun Greek, alleging negligence for injuries at restaurant", Robbie Hargett, Nov. 4, 2015

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