Personal Injury Recovery for Wet Floor Injuries in California
Property owners can be held responsible for injuries resulting from a failure to properly clean or inspect their premises.
Wet and slippery floors are a dangerous hazard for anyone who visits a commercial establishment such as a mall, hotel, sports stadium, or convention center.
It also includes public buildings such as schools, libraries, and courthouses. If you have sustained a serious injury because of a slippery floor, contact our personal injury lawyers to review the details.
The care and keeping of an expansive property is a time-consuming endeavor. Many businesses fail to promptly warn visitors of a wet and slippery floor before it's too late.
If you were injured due to negligence on a wet floor in California, you have the right to pursue financial compensation for the damages.
Our Los Angeles personal injury lawyers are providing a detailed review below.
Statute of limitations
Going to civil court after a wet floor injury is not as straightforward as it may seem.
Parties injured in a wet floor accident have two years after the day on which their accident takes place to bring their case before a California court, according to California Code of Civil Procedures 3351.
Failure to bring a case forward within this statute of limitations may see your injury case dismissed.
You will have to show evidence that your injuries were the result of a violation of reasonable care, which is a complex topic in California state law.
Establishing Fault in California
Wet floor injuries that take place in the work environment may make workers eligible for workers' compensation.
However, employees do not have the opportunity to seek out both workers' compensation and a civil suit in the state of California.
Instead, these parties may only benefit from one or the other, with the opportunity to pursue a civil suit arising should their workers' compensation claim be denied.
If a person is injured on a wet floor on public or private property under the care of another property owner, and that party is not trespassing on that property, then they have the right to a civil suit.
What Factors Must Be Proven?
California state law dictates that should an injured party wish to bring a wet floor injury case to court, they must be able to prove:
- landowner in question had a duty owed to both the land and all visitors;
- landowner failed to hold the land within the state's definition of reasonable care;
- alternatively, the landowner failed to warn visitors to the property that there were areas where dangers were known.
- enough time had passed between the degradation of the part of the land where the accident took place and the accident to merit the placement of a warning sign or a verbal warning.
Understanding reasonable care
Reasonable care as a concept is not so easily proven as it may seem. In a court of law, a judge and jury alike are encouraged to address civil cases with:
- a "reason" in mind, or,
- an understanding of what a person within their right mind might do when placed in a similar situation to the accusing party.
Unfortunately, there is no perfect definition of "reasonable." This is where negligence comes into play.
If a court cannot agree upon a definition of "reasonable," then they can more readily attempt to determine to what degree the owner violated the expectations of care owed to a visitor on their property. To do so, the attending court can assess:
- to what degree reasonable care on the property has been breached, if it has been breached at all;
- whether or not a deliberate lack of care on the part of the property owner resulted in injuries to another person;
- to what degree those injuries may have generated legal damages.
With this data set forth, the jury can then go about determining whether or not you put yourself in harm's way or otherwise acted in such a way that your behavior notably differs from normal reactions to everyday life.
Should it come to light that you responded within normal standards, then you have the right to bring forth a civil suit for the injuries.
Limitations in a wet floor injuries case
However, there are times when it may appear that you acted outside of the bounds of normal behavior or otherwise forwent the right to pursue damages after their injury.
Limitations on wet floor injury cases include:
- instances of trespassing on the victim's part;
- the conditions that caused the victim's injury was obvious enough that engaging with them can be classified as a reckless act.
Wet Floor Injury Lawyers in California
If you suffered a wet floor injury on a property due to negligence, you can reach out to our Los Angeles personal injury lawyers to review the details.
We will investigate, evaluate, and present your personal injury claim with no fee until you recover. No recovery, no fee.
Call us to learn how we can help you recover compensation due to negligence.
Injury Justice Law Firm are top-rated personal injury attorneys serving clients in Southern California, including Los Angeles County, Orange County, Ventura County, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Riverside, and San Bernardino.
Our firm is located at 1999 Avenue of the Stars, 11th Fl., Los Angeles, CA 90067.
Our main is in the San Fernando Valley at 14401 Sylvan St #112 Van Nuys, CA 91401. Contact us for a free case evaluation at (818) 781-1570.
Related Content: