When You’re Hurt on Someone Else’s Property: Premises Liability Involves More Than Just Slip and Fall Accidents
Most people are familiar with the idea that if you slip and fall on a slick floor in the grocery store, you may be able to sue the store owner because they failed to warn you or take other steps to protect you from falling. This type of lawsuit is regularly referred to as a “slip and fall.” It is part of the legal theory of premises liability, and it is such a common type of case that many people assume all premises liability cases involve someone slipping or tripping and falling because of a hazardous condition.
But premises liability actually extends to many other types of situations that lead to injuries as well. A Tallahassee personal injury lawyer knows that property owners have a duty to protect you from more than just slippery floors. Our team holds property owners accountable for injuries caused by fires, building failures, toxic exposure, swimming pool accidents, and many other factors. Property owners are sometimes even held liable for harm caused by criminal attacks that occur on their property. So it is helpful to look more closely at the concept of premises liability and see when and where it may apply.
Understanding Premises Liability in Florida
At the most basic level, premises liability is the concept that the owner of property can be held liable for harm that occurs to others who are on those premises. The concept has many limitations.
Trespassers Do Not Have Much Protection
For instance, a property owner is not going to be held liable for harm that comes to trespassers in most cases. The owner owes very little duty to keep them safe from hazardous conditions, although there is a duty to protect young children who could be attracted onto the property and who are not old enough to recognize the danger or understand the idea that they don’t have the right to be on the property. If the property contains an item or feature that children would be drawn to, such as a swimming pool, trampoline, tractor, or refrigerator, then the property owner is required to take steps to keep children away from harm. For a refrigerator or other airtight appliance, removing the door might be sufficient. Swimming pools require fences of a certain type and height with locked gates.
If it is reasonably foreseeable that adults will be trespassing on a piece of property and there is a condition on the property that would cause an unreasonable risk of harm, then the owner has a duty to do something to warn trespassers of the risk. But for the most part, property owners only have a duty to protect people who are on their property lawfully.
Harm Must Be Foreseeable to the Property Owner
Another limitation to the concept of liability for property owners is that the harm must be foreseeable. The property owner must be reasonably able to anticipate that visitors would be on that part of the property and that they could be hurt by a hazardous condition. That means the owner must have either known about the condition or had constructive knowledge of the condition.
Constructive knowledge refers to the idea that the owner has an obligation to inspect and be aware of the condition of the premises. If the handrail on a staircase of an apartment building is loose, for instance, that poses a danger that the handrail could pull out and someone using it could fall down the stairs. If the owner of the building lives in Boca Raton and the building is in Tallahassee, the owner might have no idea that the railing is loose. However, being far away does not absolve the owner of the duty to keep the apartment building safe for tenants and guests.
The owner has a duty to either inspect premises personally or have it inspected at regular, reasonable intervals to ensure the property is safe for use. If a defect, such as a loose handrail, has been noticeable for long enough that it should have come to the attention of the property owner, then the owner is said to have constructive knowledge of the defect.
Premises Liability is Based on Negligence
If you were injured on another person’s property and you weren’t trespassing, then you need to demonstrate that the property owner was negligent in handling their property. Essentially, this means that:
- The property owner owed a duty to keep you safe because you were invited or allowed onto the property. Although it sounds counterintuitive, you would be considered to be invited if the property were a store and you were shopping during open hours. You had an implied invitation to enter the property for the commercial benefit of the property owner. On the other hand, if you were invited to someone’s house for a birthday party, since you weren’t there to provide a commercial benefit, you would not be an invitee but a licensee who is merely allowed on the property. The level of care owed to an invitee was traditionally higher than the level of care owed to a licensee, but as a practical matter, the duty is now essentially the same.
- The property owner either created a dangerous condition on the property, knew about a dangerous condition on the property, or should have known about a dangerous condition on the property, and the owner failed to take reasonable steps to warn you about it or to protect you from harm.
- The dangerous condition caused a harmful incident.
- You suffered actual harm, such as physical injuries or severe emotional distress, as a result.
Proving all these elements can be challenging, which is why it is helpful to begin working with an experienced Tallahassee personal injury lawyer as soon as possible after an injury on someone else’s property. Your attorney can help you investigate and collect evidence to demonstrate how the property owner failed to fulfill their duty to protect you and how that failure directly caused your injuries.
Situations Where Property Owners Can Be Liable for Injuries That Occur on Their Property
As noted above, if someone slips and falls because a grocery store owner spilled vegetable oil on the floor and didn’t do anything about it, or if a tenant in an apartment building falls down the stairs because the handrail on the stairs came off after hanging by a single loose screw for six months, then the property owners in these situations may be held liable for the injuries caused by their negligence in keeping the premises safe.
But other than falls, there are numerous other situations where a property owner could be required to pay damages for harm caused by their negligence in maintaining the premises.
Fires and Explosions
Part of the obligation to keep the premises safe includes maintaining appropriate fire safety measures as required by state and local laws. If an apartment owner is supposed to have a fire extinguisher or fire alarm mounted in particular places and that equipment is either missing or not functioning, then the owner could be liable for harm caused by fire on the property. The same holds true if the owner or their employee did something to block a fire exit or shut off the sprinkler system. Even though the property owner may not have done anything to start the fire, if they failed to take reasonable precautions to keep people safe in the event of a fire, and that failure is shown to have caused burns because people couldn’t get out fast enough, then the owner could be held legally responsible.
Of course, if the owner failed to fix a faulty stove or other device that caused a fire, that would also lead to liability.
Negligent Security
When it is foreseeable that people on the property could be at risk of harm due to criminal activity, then the owner of the property has an obligation to undertake certain security measures to protect people invited or allowed on the property. This might include nothing more than ensuring that locks on windows and doors are working in a hotel room or that there is adequate lighting in a parking lot. But if there are documented reports of attacks on or near the property, then the owner might need to take other steps appropriate to secure the safety of the environment, such as installing security cameras, adding fencing, or posting security guards.
What is considered reasonable to safeguard people on the property will depend on the specific circumstances. If the owner does not take reasonable measures and an invitee or licensee is attacked and injured, the owner of the property can be held liable for the criminal acts of an outside person because the owner was negligent in providing security.
Other Examples of Premises Liability
Property owners who fail to protect people on their property can be required to pay damages (usually through their insurance) for injuries caused by factors such as:
- Amusement park rides
- Exposure to toxic cleaning fumes or solvents
- Boxes falling from store shelves
- Drowning in a swimming pool
- Dog bites or other animal attacks
- Elevator and escalator accidents
Essentially, any time you are injured on someone else’s property, you should consider whether the injury could have been prevented if the owner had taken proper steps to protect you. If it was a freak event that was not foreseeable, then maybe there was no way to prevent the injury. But in many cases, property owners are lax about safeguarding the people they invite onto their property, and when someone is hurt as a result, the property owner can be held accountable.
Searcy Denney Tallahassee Knows How to Obtain Maximum Compensation in Premises Liability Cases
When injuries cause you to miss work, run up big medical bills, and endure severe pain and suffering, and you know those injuries should have been prevented, a dedicated Tallahassee personal injury lawyer at Searcy Denney can evaluate your situation and explain the compensation you may be entitled to receive for the harm you’ve suffered. For a free consultation and evaluation of your premises liability case, just call us at 888-549-7011 or contact us online now.
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