If you suffered injuries from a fall at a convenience store, you may have a slip and fall claim. As a shopper at a convenience store you will be considered what is known as a “business invitee” to that store. This means the convenience store owes you, as its customer, an affirmative duty to protect you from both known dangers and those dangers which can be discovered with reasonable care.
Reasons You May Have A Slip And Fall Claim
There are various factors at play which will determine whether or not you have a claim, one being what caused your fall. If a defect, hazard, or slippery substance caused your fall you could have a claim. This can be proven through slip and fall case evidence; such as store video, incident reports examining your fall area, photos of the fall area, or testimony of anyone who witnessed your fall. If there is no proof that a defect, hazard, or slippery substance caused your fall then you will have a difficult time bringing a slip and fall claim.
Even if you can show that a hazard or defect caused your fall at a convenience store, you must also show that the convenience store was negligent and at fault for your fall. You can do this by showing the store owner, or the store’s employees, caused the hazard to be on the ground in the first place. An example of this is a store employee spilling something or dropping trash on the ground and not cleaning it up.
When Is A Store Held Negligent?
Even if there was no direct notice to store employees about a hazard on the floor, the convenience store could still be liable for not addressing it. Here you will need evidence that the hazard was on the floor long enough where it should have been seen and taken care of by store employees. This is called constructive notice. There could be video evidence of this, the state of the hazard on the ground could indicate if it was either on the floor for a while or had just recently fallen on it, or if water has had time to pool over a large area from a leak this could be evidence to support constructive notice.
There also could be a scenario where a crack or hole in the floor forms. Here the store would have a duty to put up warning signs by this defect and to fix it within a reasonable amount of time. Likewise if store employees recently mopped the floors, they must put up warning signs so that you are aware the floors are slippery.
What If Your Convenience Store Fall Was Caused By Others?
Your fall could have been caused by an independent contractor who is not an employee of the store. Unless the store has sufficient control over the independent contractor, your primary claim here will likely be against the independent contractor.
An example of this is if a convenience store enters into a contract with an independent contractor to clean its floors. If the independent contractor uses a motorized floor cleaning machine that constantly leaks and is in need of repairs, and you slip, fall, and get injured as a result, you could have a slip and fall claim. This is especially so if there were no signs set up warning of the slippery area left by the faulty floor cleaning machine.
If the hazard on the ground was there because a customer dropped or spilled something, you must show the convenience store employees were aware that a hazard was on the floor of the store that could cause a fall, but the store and its employees did nothing to clean the hazard up. Evidence of this would be a customer complaining to store employees about a slippery substance on the floor, and store employees not doing anything to clean it or warn about it.
How To Get Compensation For Your Injuries
Beyond proving your fall was caused by the negligence of the convenience store or an independent contractor, you must also show your fall caused you injuries and damages. Your Philadelphia slip and fall attorney will be able to do this by obtaining your medical records, billing records, records that would support any lost wage claim you have, and medical testimony about your injuries from your fall.
The Thistle Law Firm is experienced at handling slip and fall claims at convenience stores. If you or a family member suffered injuries from a slip and fall at a convenience store, the attorneys at the Thistle Law Firm are here to take your call and answer your questions at 215-568-6800.