You drop the kids off at school and stop by your local supermarket on the way to work. As you walk down one of the aisles, however, you step onto spilled juice you hadn’t noticed. Your feet shoot out from under you, and you fall. Your head hits something on the way down, and you can tell right away that you’ll be needing a hospital visit.
This simple fall may end up costing you thousands of dollars in both medical fees and lost wages from the time you spend recovering.
Is the store at fault for your injuries? Do they owe you damages? Or are you on your own?
If you’ve been injured from slipping and falling in Nevada, here’s what you need to know about your legal rights.
What Liability Does a Business Have for Your Safety?
A business or property owner assumes liability for your safety while on their property. This falls under the domain of premises liability law.
Premises liability law requires owners to attend to safety risks, including slip hazards. If a company does not take reasonable steps to keep you safe from slipping on their property, they are at fault for your injury.
Is the Property Owner or Operating Business Liable?
This gets into some gray area. The question depends upon which entity owns and has control over the property. In the case of our example, if the company operating the grocery store owns the property, they will be liable for your injuries. But let’s change the scenario and say that the grocery company only rents the space, and you slipped on a leak from a pipe that the property owner was responsible for maintaining. Then, the property owner/landlord could be liable.
In cases where the property owner is a landlord and the business is renting the space, liability usually hinges on their individual responsibilities, which are often specified in a rental agreement. In this article, we will simply refer to the responsible party as the “property owner.”
When Does Nevada Law Hold Property Owners Responsible for Wet Floor Accidents?
Here are the main conditions that influence liability:
1. Knowledge of the Hazard
The key question here is: could the property owner have reasonably been expected to know there was a spill?
2. Time to Correct the Hazard
Beyond just knowing about the spill, the property owner needs to correct it in a timely manner. If the spill or wet floor was present for too long without being addressed, the property owner might be considered negligent. For example, if the juice spill described above was there for an hour and no one cleaned it up or placed a warning sign, that could indicate that the owner failed to act quickly enough to prevent harm.
3. Failure to Provide Proper Warnings
A property owner also has the obligation to warn you about a wet floor. If they clean up the spill right away and dry any moisture, no warning signs will be required, but if there is any kind of standing moisture (including wet remnants after a cleanup), the owner will need to warn people. For example, placing a “Wet Floor” sign is a standard safety precaution.
How Do Wet Floor Signs Affect Liability?
In many circumstances, there is no way to immediately remove a slipping hazard, as in cases of water pooling from a leaky pipe or a recently mopped floor that has not yet had time to dry. That’s why warning signs are so important.
If the business does not display a sign, they need to make sure customers are warned in some other way, such as by an employee. If no such warning is provided, the business or property owner may be considered liable for injuries resulting from a fall.
In addition, there are circumstances in which a simple sign may not be considered legally sufficient to absolve the business of liability. Wet floor signs must not only be present but must be placed where they can be reasonably seen from all approach angles.
Also, if the hazard is on a major thoroughfare on the property that customers need to access or in front of an especially desirable product, it may be argued that customers are likely to walk across the spill regardless of the sign. In these circumstances, property owners must take further steps to mitigate the risk, such as providing assistance or other methods of accessing these areas.
What Kind Of Compensation Are You Entitled To?
If you have suffered an injury resulting from a slip and fall and were not properly warned of the hazard, the property owner will likely be considered liable for any damages. This means you can pursue damages for medical expenses, lost income from missed work, and even additional damages for the physical and emotional suffering caused by the injury.
What if an Accident Was Partially Your Fault?
Let’s say that your grocery store accident detailed above happened before you had an important work meeting. Your fall occurred as you were running to and from aisles. You may have known that this was somewhat unsafe and be wondering if this disqualifies you from compensation.
Fortunately, Nevada law follows a concept known as “comparative negligence.” This means that the fault of both parties is taken into account in the final verdict. In other words, if you are partially responsible for the accident as a result of your own behavior, you may still be entitled to a portion of the usual compensation as long as you are not found to be more than 50% liable for the fall.
So even if you were running dangerously, if the store still failed to place a warning sign, you may still have grounds for recovery, though your recovery will be diminished by your percentage of the fault. For example, if you are awarded $10,000 but found to be 10% at fault, your award will be diminished by $1,000.
How Do You Pursue Compensation?
As with any injury, your well-being should be your first priority. Call for help and get appropriate emergency care if needed. And even if you don’t need emergency care, you’ll want to see a doctor as soon as possible after the accident, even if your injuries seem minor. Some injuries, like spine and brain injuries, may not show up right away. A doctor can order appropriate diagnostic tests and also start important documentation connecting your injuries to your accident.
Medical care aside, let’s talk about some things that need to be done before you leave the accident scene. Take pictures of the scene from all angles. Make sure to capture the scope of the spill and any signage.
Then, report the injury to the property owner and make sure they complete an accident report.
It’s always a good idea to contact a slip and fall attorney who is experienced with premises liability cases. They can make sure you gather critical evidence while it is still fresh and advise you on the strength of your legal case. They can talk to insurance companies and keep them from getting you to admit things that could later hurt your legal case. They can also advise you on whether to accept an insurance settlement or hold out for a better offer.
You should also keep records of expenses resulting from your injury, such as medical receipts and logs of lost work.
Your Losses Matter
If you have been injured from a slip and fall, you don’t have to just take the hand you’re dealt. To find out if you may be entitled to compensation for a slip and fall injury and begin building your case, talk to one of our experienced Las Vegas accident injury attorneys.