If you suffered serious injuries from a fall at a shopping center in Pennsylvania, you could have a slip and fall or trip and fall claim. With shopping center accidents, there can be one or multiple parties responsible for the injuries you suffered depending on where and how your fall occurred. An experienced Pennsylvania slip and fall attorney can help determine who is liable and pursue compensation for your injuries.
Pennsylvania Shopping Center Premises Liability Laws
If you were a customer at the shopping center, you would be considered a business invitee. Under Pennsylvania premises liability law, a business invitee is owed the highest duty of care by a property owner.
This means the shopping center has an affirmative duty to protect customers from both known dangers and dangerous conditions that could have been discovered through reasonable inspections. Examples of known dangers include hazards created by shopping center employees. Hazards that should be discovered through reasonable care include dangerous conditions created by other customers or third parties.
How to Prove a Shopping Center Slip and Fall Claim
You will need to prove that a defect, slippery substance, uneven surface, or another hazardous condition caused your fall at the shopping center.
Evidence commonly used to prove liability includes surveillance video, incident reports completed by shopping center employees, photographs of the hazard, and testimony from witnesses who observed the accident.
You may also have to prove that the shopping center had notice of the hazard depending on who created the dangerous condition.
If a shopping center employee or agent created the hazard, you generally do not need to prove notice because the shopping center created the unsafe condition. However, if another customer or an independent contractor caused the hazard, you must show the shopping center knew or should have known about it and failed to correct it.
There are two types of notice: direct notice and constructive notice. Direct notice means someone reported the hazard to shopping center management. Constructive notice means the dangerous condition existed long enough that employees should have discovered and corrected it through reasonable inspections.
Who Is Responsible for a Shopping Center Parking Lot Slip and Fall?
If your slip and fall accident occurred in the shopping center parking lot, the shopping center owner is often the party responsible for maintaining the area in a reasonably safe condition.
In some cases, the property owner hires a property management company to maintain the parking lot. When that occurs, the management company may also share responsibility for unsafe conditions.
If you slipped on snow or ice, Pennsylvania’s hills and ridges doctrine may apply. Under this doctrine, you generally must show that:
- Snow or ice accumulated into dangerous ridges or elevations;
- The shopping center knew or should have known about the condition;
- The dangerous condition remained uncorrected for an unreasonable amount of time; and
- The snow or ice caused your fall.
There may also be additional liable parties if the shopping center hired a snow and ice removal contractor. The contractor may be responsible if it failed to properly remove snow and ice or failed to follow its contractual obligations. Likewise, a shopping center may share liability if it negligently hired or retained an inexperienced contractor.
Slip and Fall Accidents on Shopping Center Sidewalks and Inside Stores
If your fall occurred on sidewalks surrounding the stores, responsibility often depends on the lease agreement between the shopping center owner and the individual tenant.
For example, ice may develop because of defective roofs or gutters that allow water to drip onto sidewalks and refreeze. In those situations, the hills and ridges doctrine may not apply because the ice did not form naturally. Whether the store or the shopping center is responsible often depends on which party was responsible for maintaining that portion of the property.
If you were injured inside one of the stores, the individual store will generally be responsible for maintaining safe conditions.
As with outdoor accidents, you must prove that your fall resulted from a dangerous condition. If another customer created the hazard, such as by spilling liquid on the floor, you generally must prove the store had actual or constructive notice. If store employees created the dangerous condition, notice is generally not required.
Surveillance footage, incident reports, witness testimony, and photographs of the accident scene can all play important roles in establishing liability.
Proving Your Injuries and Financial Losses
You will also have to prove your injuries through medical evidence. This includes your medical records, reports from your treating physicians, and testimony from yourself, friends, and family members regarding how the injuries have affected your daily life.
If you lost wages because of your injuries, those damages can be proven through medical evidence showing your inability to work, as well as tax returns, pay stubs, and employment records documenting your normal earnings. Your attorney may also retain an economic expert to calculate future lost wages and diminished earning capacity.
The Thistle Law Firm has extensive experience handling Pennsylvania shopping center slip and fall claims. If you or a loved one suffered serious injuries in a shopping center accident, call The Thistle Law Firm at 215-568-6800 for a free consultation.