People may suffer injuries on business premises due to no fault of their own. Under the law of the land, they are able to file a personal injury case against the business and claim for compensation and damages for the injuries they suffer. Businesses need to be aware of this and prepared for personal injury claims or lawsuits from victims' lawyers.
Negligent Actions On Behalf Of The Business
Most of the personal injury lawsuits that are filed against businesses are mainly because of negligence. In order to constitute an act of negligence, the plaintiff needs to establish four elements of the suit. They are the duty of care, breach of the duty, causation and lastly damages. In case the business failed to offer a safe environment to its customers, and the customer suffered an injury because of that negligence, he/she is legally entitled to seek recovery from the damages that have been suffered.
Licensees In A Personal Injury Case
When it comes to personal injury lawsuits, you may be wondering if a person who has entered business premises for using the restroom and suffers damage due to failure of duty of care, is he/she entitled to personal injury claims? The law here treats that person as a licensee. This means an individual who is allowed to go to the property of another person for a restricted reason, like a house guest. There are some state jurisdictions in the USA that treat the person who has entered into the property of another as an invitee while others treat that person as a licensee. Note that licensees are owed the duty of being warned of any kind of danger that is known to exist in the premises.
Trespassers And Business Premises
Under the law of personal injury, the last category of visitors is known as trespassers. These are people who do not have any kind of permission both express or implied to enter the property. However, a business does not have a legal right to trap such trespassers and cause harm to the person.
Understand The Reasonable Standards For Business
When it comes to personal injury lawsuits for a business, the courts of law will always use reasonable standards to determine the duty of care that the business should exhibit towards the visitor. This standard should seek and achieve a balance between safety and the prevention of any conceivable accident caused to the public that visits the business premises. Businesses should complete all or some of the following factors to act in a reasonable manner that would have prevented the accident or the injury:
• The business should create and follow a fixed procedure that provides for the regular inspection of the business premises so that potential harm to the customers can be located and prevented.
• An esteemed legal firm in the USA, Hershey Law Personal Injury professionals, state that the business should embrace a plan that ensures regular cleaning of the premises so that slips and falls can be prevented and harm avoided to the customer.
• The business has the moral obligation and duty to warn customers when the floors are wet, and they should place warnings near the floor so that the customer is aware and slips and falls can be prevented.
• When the climate is humid, and the weather is wet, the business premises should include placemats and rugs at all entry points to the premises.
• The business has to make sure that all repairs are done instantly so that there are no potential accidents caused.
There are some personal injury lawsuits where legal experts might testify about the prevailing customs in the industry. Note that this custom testimony is not dispositive; however, it can be influential in a large way when it displays what other businesses in a similar niche are doing to avert customer injuries on the premises.
Personal Injury Lawsuits For A Business
The following 4 elements have to be proved in a personal injury lawsuit in a business:
Breach In Duty- Once the business has established standard care, the plaintiff has the sole responsibility of providing evidence that the business establishment created a breach of the above duty of care. For instance, the business premises might not have cleaned the premises properly on a regular basis leaving dishwasher liquid on the floor that later led to a customer slipping on the premises resulting in injury. The staff of the business might have noticed that spill on the floor but did not clean it up correctly.
Causation
The next step for the plaintiff is to prove that the breach of that duty of care caused him/her the injury. He/she must prove that this breach in the duty of care actually caused the injury or harm. Here, it is not sufficient to show the court that the plaintiff was present at the business premises. The plaintiff has to prove that the business did something or did not do something that caused the customer to suffer the injury.
In a personal injury case against a business, the customer has to prove to the court that some harm has been suffered in some way due to the action or the negligence of the business. This harm can be physical harm and displayed with proper medical bills. At the same time, the plaintiff has to prove to the court lost wages or salary. This evidence may be submitted to the court in the form of employment records or in any form that depicts suffering and pain caused due to the negligent actions of the business. The plaintiff has to submit all the proof of the prevailing elements to show that injury has been caused and suffered when it comes to damages and compensation claims.
The Final Verdict
Therefore, from the above, it is evident that businesses too are liable for personal injury claims; however, you must take the help of a good lawyer to file the case and submit medical documentation and proof. The courts of law will examine all of them carefully before it passes a verdict when it comes to a personal injury suffered and the amount of compensation you are entitled to in the court case!
