Can I Sue a Restaurant or Retailer if I Was Injured on Its Property?

A waiter spilled a drink on the floor of the restaurant you’re eating at and didn’t clean it up or mark the area. When you go to the restroom, you slip on the wet floor, fall, and seriously injure your arm. Or you’re shopping at the local grocery store, reach for a can, and the shelf collapses on you. When such incidents happen at a restaurant or retailer, can you sue the property owner for your injuries?

Yes, premises liability is an area of law that lets individuals injured due to a dangerous condition on someone else’s property pursue compensation from the property owner. This extends to restaurant owners and other business owners, who have a duty of care to keep their place of business reasonably safe for customers and other visitors.

To be successful in any premises liability case, there are certain things you’ll have to prove — namely, the elements of a negligence claim. Premises liability claims against a restaurant or retailer are a special case and can bring unique challenges in terms of proof and gathering evidence. For legal help, reach out to a premises liability lawyer.

What You Have To Prove in Any Premises Liability Case

There are four basic things you have to prove in a premises liability claim:

1. The property owner owed you a legal duty of care to maintain the property in a reasonably safe condition;
2. The property breached their duty of care by failing to resolve a hazardous condition that existed and that they knew or should have known about;
3. The hazardous condition caused you injury;
4. You are seeking damages for your injuries, such as compensation for medical bills, lost income, or pain and suffering.

Learn more about how some states base a property owner’s legal obligations on the type of visitor who was injured: Invitee, licensee, or trespasser.

Different Challenges in Proving Injuries That Occurred Inside vs. Outside a Business

“It’s instructive to compare a premises liability case involving a restaurant or a store with one that happened on a sidewalk outside of an office,” says Mark Raczkowski, a premises liability attorney at AZ Premises Law in Phoenix, Arizona.

“In cases that happened inside a commercial entity, such as a restaurant or store, the business and its employees are often your best experts for proving whether something is dangerous since their own procedures and policies will define the condition that way. By contrast, in cases that happened on a sidewalk, it’s generally harder to get expert witnesses who will agree there was a hazard.”

Case 1: Witnesses for Slip-and-Fall Accidents Inside a Retailer or Restaurant

“For example, if somebody slips and falls on liquid inside of a store, every employee that you depose will agree with you that wet floors are a hazard and that the store has procedures in place to ensure there shouldn’t be unmarked liquids on the floor — things like wet floor signs and employees who monitor the floors for liquids — because they all recognize that to be potential slipping or tripping hazard,” explains Raczkowski.

“The same thing is often true in restaurant cases,” he continues. “Again, if you ask restaurant staff what they do if they see liquid on the ground, they’ll say, ‘Oh, we’re supposed to dry that right up, use the wet floor sign, and so on.”

Case 2: Witnesses for Slip-and-Fall Accidents on a Sidewalk

“But now compare what happens when there’s a deviation on a sidewalk,” says Raczkowski. “We get a lot of fact patterns where people are just walking on a sidewalk and come across a couple of slabs of different heights. They trip over one of the raised edges of a concrete slab and sustain fall injuries. That happens all over the place — on public sidewalks, walkways, around apartment complexes, everywhere.

“Now, if you interview the maintenance people who take care of that apartment or office complex, or the city employees who are tasked with maintaining sidewalks and streets in town, most of them are going say, ‘We don’t think that’s dangerous or something that needed to be addressed. And to the extent the condition was hazardous, it’s open and obvious — easy to be seen. So, anybody using reasonable care as they walked on that sidewalk would have been able to see the slab and avoid it. So what’s the big deal?'”

In other words, Raczkowski says, it becomes more challenging for the plaintiff to prove the hazard in cases involving outdoor walkways. “Since the maintenance or government employees aren’t going to agree, you’ll usually have to hire an expert, such as an architect or engineer, to come in and talk about dangerousness and walkway safety standards.”

Photos [are] important when it comes to premises liability cases involving… debris or spill. [Without photos], all you have to go on may be the client’s testimony. All of a sudden, you have a huge dispute as to whether there was even anything on the ground — much less whether it was hazardous. So, being able to establish the condition is a big deal.

The Added Challenge of Transitory Condition Cases: Proving the Owner Knew About the Danger

“The other challenging thing about restaurant and retail store cases is that many of them are transitory condition cases — things like debris or spills on the floor as opposed to static conditions like the raised edge of a sidewalk that’s been there for six months or a year,” explains Raczkowski.

“Transitory conditions are the toughest cases there are. It’s very hard to prove where the transitory condition came from, how long it was there, and — crucially — the extent to which anybody knew it was there. A business owner can sit there and agree with you all day long in a premises liability case. They’ll agree that there was liquid on the floor, that you fell in the store, and that the medical records show you had to get immediate femur surgery and a rod put in your leg, amounting to $150,000 worth of medical treatment. What they won’t agree with is your claim that they knew about the dangerous condition.” Depending on your state’s premises liability laws, a defendant who can successfully argue they didn’t know about the transitory condition may escape all liability for your injuries.

Helpful Types of Evidence To Prove Your Case

Raczkowsi says that photographs are often the most helpful type of evidence.

“You can see why photos would be important when it comes to premises liability cases involving a transitory condition in a store,” he adds. “If you don’t have a photograph of the debris or spill, all you have to go on may be the client’s testimony. All of a sudden, you have a huge dispute as to whether there was even anything on the ground — much less whether it was hazardous. So, being able to establish the condition is a big deal.”

If the photo includes measurements of the dangerous condition, or you have multiple photos showing the area from different angles, that’s even better. Raczkowski adds that contrary to many people’s expectations, video surveillance footage isn’t always airtight for the plaintiff’s case. “Sometimes the video footage will prove the defense’s point by showing that the plaintiff was being careless,” he says.

Find a Premises Liability Attorney in Your Area

If you’ve experienced a retail store or restaurant injury and have questions about suing or other legal options, visit the Super Lawyers directory to find an experienced premises liability lawyer for legal advice tailored to your situation.