Building Accidents and Falls

Slip and fall accidents are extremely common and can happen in a variety of locations, including grocery stores, restaurants, office buildings, and shopping malls or outdoors in parking lots or on sidewalks.

Slip and fall accident cases generally proceed under the theory that the defendant building owner, tennant, or landlord were responsible for the condition that caused your accident.

Inside a building a property owner or tennant can be liable for injuries resulting from falls on slippery floors if the owner or occupier was negligent. However, simply because the floor material itself is slippery by nature is not enough. Examples of conduct for which a property owner or occupier may be held responsible for a slip and fall accident are:

• Failing to provide adequate warnings, such as signs, that the floor is being cleaned, waxed, or polished, and is still wet or damp; failing to properly close off an area that is wet
• Cleaning the floor in a negligent manner, such as mopping at a busy time, using excessive amounts of soap or polish and allowing the floor to remain wet for an unreasonable period after cleaning is finished
• Failing to clean up spilled food, liquid or other foreign substances, or to post a warning within a reasonable amount of time after being notified of the spill by a customer or employee
• Failing to keep floor surfaces or carpets in a reasonably safe condition, such as loose floor tiles, torn carpet or splinters sticking up
• Failing to correct conditions on stairways, such as broken handrails, worn steps, or spills, that could cause injury if the property owner knew or should have known about them

A property owner is not liable for a slip and fall accident if the property owner was not aware of the condition, the condition was obvious, or the property owner acted with due care to correct the slippery or potentially dangerous condition.

Outside a building, accidents can occur in parking lots, stairways, walkways, and sidewalks. If you are injured in a parking lot of a shopping center, an individual storeowner or tennant may be responsible or it may be the obligation of the owner or management company. An owner of a parking lot or other outdoor space must exercise reasonable care to keep the area in a reasonably safe condition for pedestrians and cars.

Common causes of outdoor trip and fall accidents include:

• Tripping over parking blocks or cracks in a sidewalk
• Inadequate lighting may also lead to accidents involving falls in parking lots
• Trips over curbs, falls on steps, and trips and falls due to uneven surfaces or holes
• Slip and falls due to negligent snow and ice removal

If you, a friend, or family has been injured in a building or premise accident in Manhattan, Long Island, The Bronx, Brooklyn, or Queens, contact us today at 1-866-Flanzig or 516-741-8222.