When a supermarket or grocery store invites you onto their property, they are obligated to keep you safe – at least as far as is reasonably possible.
The trouble is, supermarkets are busy and often dangerous places. With tall shelves, potentially slippery floors, heavy products, machinery, and thousands of guests every day – it can be quite a challenge to make sure everyone’s safe. With all this to consider, it’s probably no surprise to find that supermarket accidents happen quite frequently.
Here, we’ll take a look at the wide range of supermarket accidents that can occur. We’ll explore what your rights are as a customer. Finally, we’ll tell you a bit about what the legal process looks like if you decide to pursue a personal injury case against a company like Target, Walmart, Winn Dixie, Publix, Whole Foods, Harris Teeter – or even independent grocery stores.
What kind of injuries can occur:
Frankly, supermarkets are such busy and large places that there are countless types of accidents that can occur.
We have represented clients who have been injured due to:
- Slip and fall accidents because of water or another kind of spill
- Bottle fall incidents owing to a poorly stacked shelf or shelves
- Trip and fall accidents because of badly placed stock, packaging, or equipment
- Slip and falls due to poor grounds/parking lot management in bad weather
- Broken or damaged bottles, packaging, or shop fixtures
- Improper use of cleaning products in store
Of course, these aren’t the only kinds of case we can help you pursue. Whatever the cause – the team here at our law firm will help you understand who was at fault and explore whether or not the store could have or should have done more to keep you safe.
Have you had a slip and fall accident in a supermarket?
Cases where someone slipped and fell are generally the most common supermarket accidents we help clients with. If you’ve had pain and suffering as a result of a fall – we’ll be able to talk to you in more detail about your case and potential damages you could be entitled to.
When is a supermarket or grocery store liable?
Every case is a little different – but generally, we are able to represent a client successfully when our personal injury lawyers can prove that a dangerous condition that could/should have been avoided has led to an injury.
This legal area is referred to as ‘premises liability’ law. According to Florida law, it’s the responsibility of the property owner, manager, store owner, business operator or other people in control of a premises to make sure business establishments are safe. Safety cannot be left to chance.
Your personal injury attorney will try to prove that:
- You were owed a duty of care (you were the store’s responsibility)
- The store breached that duty of care
- This breach caused an injury or distress
Sometimes, a supermarket might have breached their duty by allowing a dangerous situation to occur – but, in other cases, the supermarket may simply be at fault by not fixing an unforeseeable issue quickly enough. The key issue will always be whether the supermarket knew or should have known about the dangerous condition before the incident occurred.
The most common supermarket injury is a slip and fall caused by a foreign substance on the floor. Whether the supermarket will be responsible for the injuries sustained by their customer will depend on whether they knew or should have known about the condition that caused the fall.
For example, if a customer slips on water on the supermarket’s floor, the supermarket will not be responsible if the water was spilled by another customer ten (10) seconds before the slip and fall. This is because it would have been impossible for the supermarket’s employees to place warnings or dry the area in such a short amount of time. However, the supermarket will be responsible if the evidence demonstrates that the liquid had been there for long enough that the supermarket’s employees should have known that it was there. There are dozens of video cameras in every supermarket in South Florida. The video of the fall and footage of the area where the fall occurred leading up to the time of the file are crucial to proving that the supermarket knew or should have known of the dangerous condition.
Seeking legal support: How can a Miami personal injury lawyer help?
We have dealt with many slip and fall cases along with many other unique supermarket related injuries here in Miami, Florida.
Every case starts with a free consultation. When you call us or contact us online, we’ll help you understand exactly what’s happened and how Miami Dade county laws are there to protect you. As a specialist personal injury law firm, our attorneys will even be able to talk you through the kind of compensation that could be available to help you deal with medical bills, lost earnings, and any pain and suffering you’ve had to endure.
Buying groceries shouldn’t be dangerous. If a trip to the store’s resulted in an accident, the law is there to protect you and make sure you’re not out of pocket.