Georgia slip-and-fall cases typically involve lawsuits being brought against a business that caused a dangerous situation. A typical scenario is when an employee washes or polishes a floor, fails to put up warning signs and a member of the public falls over and gets injured.
These are not always straightforward cases. If you are injured in a fall at premises, you should initially seek medical attention. You should also file an injury report at the place you were hurt.
Often in slip-and-fall cases at stores, hotels, restaurants or other premises, the owners or operators will seek to claim they were not aware of the danger. If the danger was not foreseeable, they may have a sound defense in a lawsuit.
Liability in Georgia slip and fall cases
You should ask yourself some key questions that are relevant in Georgia slip-and-fall cases. They include
- Were your injuries severe enough to require medical treatment?
- Did your injuries cause you to have time off work and interfere with your abilities to perform daily tasks;
- Did you bear any responsibility for the accident? Was the surface naturally dangerous?
If your injuries were not serious after a fall, it may not be worth filing a lawsuit. Premises liability cases can be complex. A sprain likely will not merit litigation.
If you file a lawsuit, it will be necessary to prove that the owner of the property was responsible for the injury.
If, for instance, an employee spills a substance in a store and a customer immediately falls on it, the store may argue it did not have time to rectify the problem. However, if a spill remains on the floor for some time and workers walk past it and ignore it, the store is likely to be held liable for negligence.
The owners or managers of premises may also seek to pin some of the blame on the injured party. They may claim the plaintiff was not looking ahead or was distracted.
If a Georgia slip and fall lawsuit makes it to a trial, and the jury finds that you were negligent in connection with the accident, the state’s modified comparative negligence rule will mean any payout you receive will be reduced according to the percentage of your fault.
If you are found to be 50 percent or more to blame you will not be able to make a claim against the property owner or any other parties you believe were liable.
If you were injured in a store, a restaurant, a pool, a hotel, on stairs at a public building, or on any other premises, you may have grounds to file a lawsuit. Contact a personal injury lawyer about Georgia slip and fall cases at (404) 913-1529