Common Types of Slip and Fall Cases
A compensable slip and fall case would be a scenario where a reasonable person would have taken action to fix or correct a dangerous condition but the person controlling or occupying the property failed to do so, and because of that, somebody’s injured. For example, slipping on lettuce on the floor of the supermarket.
Another common type of slip and fall could be if somebody’s cleaning up a spill and they don’t put up wet floor signs and nobody had any reason to know the floor was slippery and then slipped and fall, then the company that’s responsible for cleaning up the spill will likely be responsible for those injuries too.
Some other common scenarios would be if there are steps into a building and it’s got big chunks that are chipped out of the concrete steps and somebody falls because of that. That might be a claim, it might not, depending on if it’s an open and obvious condition, and if a reasonable person would have noticed that.
Where Accidents Can Happen
A lot of the time, a slip and fall happens near entrances and exits to property or spills on property that are not cleaned up or are hidden from view, or unknown dangers such as like a pothole, faulty railing, weak floorboard, or something like that. There are all sorts of things, but basically, a business, landowner, or host needs to keep their property in a reasonably safe condition and if it’s not possible to do so or if there’s a hidden danger, you need to warn people about that.
We’re speaking in generalities here because there are specific things that differ between DC and Virginia and other jurisdictions, but generally, those are the basics.
Slip and Fall Cases While Trespassing
There are different classifications of people that go onto land, which, if you’re a trespasser, you basically don’t have any rights, but that doesn’t mean that you can, for instance, set up a booby trap or something like that. Virginia still distinguishes what duty is owed based upon the classification of the injured person, while D.C. basically just distinguishes between those lawfully present and trespassers. In either jurisdiction, most other people are going to have more protection than a trespasser would, and if you’re a business invitee, so you go shopping at a store, they’re asking you to come shop there and look at their stuff. A business is going to owe you a different duty than what someone at home hosting friends for the football game but both the store owners and the person who have friends over their apartment do owe a duty to the people that come over.