Large storeowner settles slip and fall lawsuit

All Practice Areas

Lowe’s, a home-improvement store that does business in New Jersey and throughout the United States, has just settled a slip and fall lawsuit involving an 8-year old boy that fractured his leg for $50,000. The floor was wet in a garden area of the store where the boy slipped.

Though these types of accidents do not always result in harm, a large retail store such as this should at least anticipate that such falls do occur and can often lead to significant injury. Such stores will be visited by individuals vulnerable to falls and injuries as well as young adult people.

Though one can recover for injuries due to slip and fall injuries, the injured party first has to show negligence on the part of the storeowner or staff before that person can recover. This may not always be easy to do.

One way attorneys will show negligence in slip and fall cases would be to demonstrate that store staff failed to remove objects or obstacles in aisles that could lead to falls by showing that such objects or obstacles were easily removable. Another way is if it can be shown that the tiles or floor on which an individual was walking were in poor repair. Finally, if it can be shown there were slippery surfaces on the floor with no warnings posted at or near the slippery area.

Stores make their money by catering to customers and providing incentives to get them into the stores. But since they’ve invited such individuals in, they also have a duty to make certain the premises are safe for people to walk through. Stores that fail to do this need to compensate those injured on the premises.

Source: The Sacramento Bee, “Negligence suit against Lowe’s settled,” by Denny Walsh, April 15, 2012