What Are My Legal Options If I Fell in a Grocery Store?
Slip, trip, and fall hazards are common at Nashville grocery stores. Sometimes, they are difficult to spot, which makes falls unexpected and unpredictable.
Grocery store falls can happen in aisles, check out areas, entrances, exits, restrooms, parking lots, and outdoor walkways. If you were hurt in a grocery store fall because the hazard wasn’t properly addressed, it’s critical that you speak to a personal injury lawyer who can help you build a strong legal claim.
Common grocery store hazards
Slip and falls are often caused by:
Liquid spills
Water tracked in from outdoors
Spills from broken glass containers and jars
Slipping hazards should be addressed promptly by an employee or store manager. This should be done either by cleaning it up or placing a wet floor warning sign at the scene of the slipping hazard.
Tripping hazards may be caused by:
Debris left on the floor by employees or other customers
Products that have fallen off shelves
Poorly designed or low-lying displays
Broken or uneven walkway surfaces
What should I do if I fell in a grocery store?
Grocery store management is responsible for ensuring the safety of customers by removing these hazards. When they fail to do so, people can get seriously hurt.
Slip, trip, and fall accidents often lead to serious injuries, including:
Traumatic brain injuries
Broken bones
Spinal injuries
Soft tissue injuries
Bruises, contusions, and cuts
If you fell in a grocery store, you have the right to take legal action. It’s important that you follow several steps before consulting with an attorney, however.
These procedures can help your attorney build a strong personal injury claim:
Report the incident to management: It’s important that you bring the hazard to the attention of management to prevent further injuries and to ensure that your incident is documented.
Write down the time, date, and location of the incident: It’s always a good idea to document these details so you have critical details to provide to your attorney. This can also come in handy when obtaining surveillance footage from the store.
Take a picture of the hazard that led to your fall: By taking a picture with your phone, you have physical evidence of the fall hazard.
Get medical attention: Always see a doctor after a slip, trip, and fall. Your injury could be much worse than a few bumps and bruises. Your doctor will document the extent of your injuries through a medical evaluation.
How can I pursue legal damages?
There are certain criteria that must be met from your grocery store fall for you to be eligible for a personal injury claim:
The hazard that led to your call must have been present long enough that a store employee or manager should have known about it.
The hazard was reported, but wasn’t promptly addressed by management.
A store employee caused the hazard and failed to fix it.
If the hazard that caused your fall met any of these criteria, an experienced Nashville personal injury attorney at Thompson Law can help you build a strong legal claim.
You shouldn’t have to pay out-of-pocket for medical expenses, lost wages, or other damages caused by someone else’s negligence. Contact us to find out how we can maximize your compensation.
