If you were injured while navigating the aisles of one of New York’s many supermarkets or grocery stores, you may be wondering about your legal options. A slip and fall whether caused by icy sidewalks, spilled milk, slippery substances, or other dangerous or defective conditions existing on the premises—can result in serious, long-term injuries, substantial medical expenses, and lost time from work.
Below, our New York premises liability lawyers from Elliot Ifraimoff & Associates, PC, explain the elements needed to prove negligence in these cases. Whether you’re dealing with growing medical costs or simply curious about your rights as a shopper in New York, we’ll cover the basics behind liability and negligence in this guide. For help with a specific case, consider consulting a premises liability lawyer in Queens, NY.
The Hidden Hazards Lurking Around Local Grocery Stores
One in four adults over 65 will fall each year. While some falls may be minor, they still rank as the leading cause of fatal and non-fatal injuries in older populations. In 2023, for example, falls accounted for over 20% of all of the preventable injury-related deaths that occurred in the U.S.
Falls might happen at home, at work, or when running errands. At a grocery store specifically, quite a few dangerous conditions can potentially lead to slips, trips, or falls, including, but not limited to:
- Ice or snow on exterior sidewalks or walkways
- Spilled liquids on the floor that haven’t been appropriately marked off or cleaned up
- Uneven lips in the flooring without proper cautionary warnings
- Inadequate lighting makes it challenging to see stairs, spills, or similar hazards
- Broken handrails on entry ramps
- Items left in aisles, such as small stools, ladders, or boxes, create a potential tripping hazard
These are only a few examples of hazardous conditions that can cause injury to shoppers. If you slip on ice or trip over a box of cereal, you could fall and injure your tailbone, head, spine, wrist, ribs, or other body parts.
Proving Liability After a Slip-and-Fall Accident: The Four Elements Needed
All premises liability and personal injury cases generally revolve around proving negligence. While the negligent behavior may have seemed obvious to you after suffering the injury, insurance providers and courts may see things differently. Because of this, there’s a structured method for establishing negligence that requires you to prove four specific elements:
- The liable party’s duty of care
- Their failure to meet that duty
- The link between their negligent action and your injury
- The damages you suffered as a result
Below, our New York premises liability lawyers explore these items in more detail.
Understanding the Duties of Care Owed by Property Owners
To establish negligence, you first need to be able to understand the legal responsibility that the liable party failed to meet. Grocery stores, supermarkets, and their operators owe customers a legal duty to keep the property reasonably safe. This includes:
- Regularly inspecting aisles, entrances, and walkways
- Promptly cleaning spills or blocking the area off
- Repairing broken flooring
- Ensuring lighting, handrails, and ramps are functional
Multiple parties may share responsibility for an accident, including property owners, store managers, or outside contractors such as cleaning or snow-removal companies.
Establishing a Breach in Duty
A breach occurs when a property owner or employee fails to meet the required standard of care. This might include ignoring reported hazards, failing to inspect aisles regularly, or leaving spilled liquids unattended.
To hold a property owner or operator liable for a slip-and-fall accident in New York, an injured party must generally establish that the defendant had notice of the dangerous condition, or that the defendant created the condition. Notice may be established in several ways:
- Actual Notice: The property owner or its employees knew of the hazardous condition before the accident, such as through prior complaints, incident reports, or employee observations.
- Constructive Notice: The condition existed for a sufficient length of time that the property owner should have discovered and corrected it through reasonable inspections.
- Creation of the Condition: Liability may also be established where the property owner or its employees created the dangerous condition, such as by spilling a substance, causing a leak, or performing negligent maintenance.
Evidence like surveillance videos, cleaning logs, or witness statements can help show that the store did not take reasonable steps to prevent injuries. Grocery store hazards are often foreseeable, as things like spilled produce, leaking freezers, and tracked-in snow are common. Failing to anticipate and address a hazard can also qualify as a breach.
A New York premises liability lawyer can help you understand the specific breach of duty in your case.
Linking the Breach to Your Grocery Store Injury
Proving a dangerous condition and an injury is not enough to establish negligence. You must also show that the unsafe condition directly caused your fall and resulting injuries.
Insurance companies often challenge causation, arguing that the hazard was obvious or unrelated, or that injuries existed before the accident. Photos of the scene, incident reports, medical evaluations, and witness accounts may help establish a link. Gathering evidence immediately after the accident is often important, as stores tend to clean up hazardous conditions quickly, and witness memories may fade.
Maintaining Documentation To Prove Damages
Finally, you must show that the accident caused measurable damages. This might include:
- Medical bills
- Hospital stay or surgery treatment expenses
- Lost wages
- Written notes about pain or mobility issues
- Pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, or permanent limitations;
- And more
This documentation supports the financial end of your claim, providing context for the settlement you’re requesting.
Are You Looking for a Personal Injury Lawyer in Queens, NY?
Understanding premises liability case eligibility can be confusing, especially when recovering from a traumatic accident. Schedule your case evaluation with a New York premises liability lawyer today by calling Elliot Ifraimoff & Associates, PC, at (888) 275-3554.
FAQs Answered by a Premises Liability Lawyer in Queens
If you still have questions about proving negligence in a premises liability case, review our FAQs below.
Can You Sue a Grocery Store in New York for Dangerous Property Conditions?
You can potentially sue if the store created a hazard, knew about a dangerous condition, or should have discovered it through reasonable inspections and failed to fix or warn about it, ultimately causing your injuries and damages.
How Quickly Are Stores Supposed To Clean Up or Mark Off Spills To Prevent Accidents?
Stores must address spills within a “reasonable” amount of time, meaning as soon as they know or should have known about the hazard during regular inspections.
How Long Do You Have To File a Property Owner Negligence Lawsuit?
In New York, you generally have three years from the date of the accident to file a premises liability lawsuit, though exceptions may apply.
What Does a Premises Liability Attorney Do?
A New York premises liability lawyer investigates the accident, gathers evidence, negotiates with insurers, and represents you in court to help you pursue compensation for your injuries.
This article is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.