When are store owners liable for slip-and-fall accidents?

Online shopping is becoming more and more popular in Florida. It may be the future of shopping, but today there are still many stores that have buildings where people go in and buy the items right there. People go to grocery stores, clothing stores, hardware and home goods stores, stores for electronics and many other types of stores. While people are in these stores they expect to be safe, and be able to go in buy what they would like and leave.

However, this is not always the case. Sometimes there are accidents and people suffer injuries as a result. One of the most common types of accidents are slip-and-fall accidents. These can occur when there is some kind of liquid on a floor that the shopper does not see and slips after stepping in it. These can seem like small accidents, but they can cause serious injuries depending on how the shopper falls and lands.

Under Florida law, the store owners may be liable for these injuries depending on the circumstances. Store owners must have actual or constructive knowledge of the substance on the floor and have not done an adequate job protecting the shoppers from it. Also, it does not need to be the actual owner that has knowledge, it could be an employee as well.

Actual knowledge is straightforward, but when an employee has constructive knowledge can be a little trickier. Owners or their employees have constructive knowledge if the substance was there for a long enough period of time that the employees should have known about it or the condition occurred regularly and therefore it was foreseeable that it would occur again.

Slip-and-fall accidents in Florida can result in significant injuries for the victim. The victim may be able to pursue compensation from the store owner for their injuries though, if the conditions stated above are met. This compensation can be very valuable as the victim recovers from their injuries. Personal injury attorneys may be able to guide one through the process of pursuing legal action.