Premises Liability – Your Rights if You Fall

It is a fairly common experience – you or someone you know is walking through a store or other business when something on or about the floor causes a slip or trip and fall accident. In California, when the condition causing the fall and injuries results from the carelessness of the business owner, the victim has a right to compensation. This is generally known as the law of “premises liability,” and it has long been recognized in California and throughout the country.

Generally, a business owner or operator is held liable for a dangerous condition when they know of it and fail to remedy the condition or warn patrons, or if they should have known of the condition by way of reasonable, regular inspections of the property. The law considers this knowledge crucial to imposing liability, and the “notice” may be actual or constructive. When a property owner is the party who creates the danger then they are presumed to have “actual notice” of the dangerous character from the moment of creation. For example, when a retailer installs a handicap access ramp that does not comply with the Uniform Building Code and an accident results, the retailer is ordinarily liable for all of the damage that follows. It need not be proven that the retailer was aware the ramp was not in compliance with the law as this will be presumed.

When a dangerous condition is not created by a business operator or even their employees, they may still be held accountable if there was “constructive notice” of the danger. That constructive notice occurs when the condition existed for such a length of time that it should have been discovered on reasonable inspection. When liquid spilled on a floor is allowed to remain for an extended period of time, an accident occurring on the property is then the fault of the property owner. The proof as to how long the danger existed will usually stem from its condition. Where a spilled liquid is partially dried, has footprints or tracks through it or was witnessed well before an accident, it is likely a sufficient amount of time passed to impose constructive notice. The failure to discover and remedy the dangerous spill is what leads to the property owner being found liable for an accident.

Perhaps one of the most common mistakes a business operator will make is in the failure to warn people coming onto their property of a danger that may be unavoidable. By their very nature some businesses are inherently dangerous, and warnings should be posted to make others aware of this fact. Sometimes dangerous chemicals are used or liquids are spilled regularly such that the obligation of the business is to warn and not necessarily to remedy the situation. For example, if a pool operator knows a particular area of the pool deck is commonly wet and very slippery, a failure to warn patrons of that condition may result in liability. Where a potentially hazardous chemical is used, it would be negligent for a business owner not to warn people coming near the danger, especially if it could not otherwise be detected.

Finally, even where an injury or harm is caused by a third party, not the property owner, the law may impose liability on the business. When a bar owner knows of a dangerously violent patron and fails to take steps to protect others on the property, the bar owner may be held liable if an assault occurs. This is true no matter what type of business is being operated, so long as the operator knows or should have known of the violent propensity of a patron and failed to act.

Every premises liability case is unique and the potential causes of harm endless. An experienced trial attorney can help you find your way through the facts and the law to reach a fair result.