What are the rights of seniors injured in a grocery store?

Seniors in Miami take pride in their ability to remain independent. Many seniors can drive, attend church, enjoy recreational activities and do their own shopping. However, even a healthy senior can suffer a serious injury if they slip and fall in a grocery store or other business.

When this happens, they will want to learn more about their right to pursue a lawsuit. Florida law provides remedies for those who slip and fall on a spill in a store. However, if you are injured you do not want to wait too long to file a legal claim. If you do, you could lose the right to sue altogether.

Can I pursue a lawsuit for my slip-and-fall injury?

Under Florida law, if you are injured after slipping on a spill on the grocery store floor or the floor of any business, you may be able to sue the store for the damages you suffered. Compensation depends on whether the store knew or should have known of the spill and failed to remedy it.

If an employer knows of a spill but does not clean it up, rope it off or place a warning sign by the spill may be sued for their negligence. A store should have known of the spill and should have remedied it if the spill was on the floor so long that it would have been discovered through ordinary care. In addition, a store also should have known of the spill if such spills happen often and are foreseeable.

Do not wait too long to file a lawsuit following a slip-and-fall injury

It is important not to wait too long to file a lawsuit against a business for your slip-and-fall injury. This is because Florida has a “statute of limitations” that dictates the time period in which a person can pursue a legal claim. Once that time period is up, a person can no longer file a lawsuit. In Florida, the statute of limitations for slip-and-fall cases is four years.

A slip-and-fall injury can be life-changing for seniors

Seniors who slip and fall in a store can break a hip, suffer a head injury or suffer a spinal cord injury. Any of these injuries could be life-changing leaving a once-independent senior dependent on others for care. Some seniors will never completely heal from such injuries. Damages obtained through a legal claim can provide much-needed financial relief for injured seniors as well as hold stores responsible for their inaction.