An invitee may slip or trip and fall on a foreign substance while using the only exit at a business establishment, cruise ship or other premises.
He or she may also slip or trip and fall if there is no alternative route to get to where he is going in a business premises. Examples of business establishments are stores, supermarkets, malls, theme parks, universities, hospitals, office buildings, cruise ships, resorts, motels, hotels and much more.
This same scenario could happen at an apartment complex or condominium building.
Example – Customer slip and falls on wet floor while walking towards only exit
Let’s assume the a customer is shopping at a Walmart, Publix Supermarket or somewhere else. He or she sees a store employee mopping the area in front of the only exit.
Assume that the business has a warning sign or signs up in the immediate area as well.
The customer sees these signs. While walking to the exit, the customer slips on the wet floor and falls.
He fractures his hip and has surgery to fix it. In order to recover compensation for his damages from the store, he must show that the store’s negligence caused his hip fracture.
If there is no other exit to leave the store, I think that there is a 25 to 50% chance that there is a defense verdict. This is based on past Florida slip and fall verdicts.
Tip: For settlement purposes, you need to know this percentage in order to discount the full value of the case. This will help you calculate the store’s net exposure in this case. Net exposure is the percentage of your damages that the store will likely have to pay.
The store claim’s adjuster will be doing his evaluation this way. This means that there is a 25% to 50% chance that the jury finds that the store did nothing wrong.
The analysis does not stop here. The adjuster will then calculate how much fault the customer has not using reasonable care under the circumstances. In this case, I think a claims adjuster would say that the customer is 25-50% at fault for his fall.
The adjuster will argue that the customer could have asked for help exiting. The customer could have used more care while walking.
If use the above percentages, the store’s net exposure is between 25% and 56.25%.
Here is how I arrived at that percentage.
You take 100% and multiply it by a 25% to 50% chance of a defense verdict. The customer’s has a 50% to 75% chance of winning the case.
I said the customer is between 25% and 50% at fault for not acting reasonably under the circumstances.
Low end of net exposure
For settlement purposes, the low end of the store’s net exposure is 25%. This is because the customer’s low end chance of proving that the store is negligent is 50%, and he is at most 50% at fault.
50% times 50% = 25%.
High end of store’s net exposure
For settlement purposes, the high end of the store’s net exposure is 56.25%. This is because the customer’s high end percentage chance of winning is at 75%, and the lowest percentage of his fault is 25%.
75% times 75% = 56.25%.
The store’s (or its insurer’s) claims adjuster would say that the case is worth between 25% and 56.25% of the full value of the case.
But what is the full value of the case? The full value of the case is the economic and non-economic damages combined.
Let’s assume that the customer’s out of pocket medical expenses are $20,000. I will assign $200,000 and $500,000 for the pain and suffering component of his hip fracture with surgery with hardware inserted.
So the full value of the combined damages are between $220,000 and $525,000. As I said earlier, the claims adjuster may be willing to pay between 25% and 56.25% of the case’s full value.
Settlement value in this case
So the low end settlement value may be ($220,000 x 25%), which is $55,000.
The high end may be ($525,000 x 56.25%), which is $295,312.00.
The reputation of the store or its liability insurer will be one factor in their settlement offer. There are over 26 Factors that may affect Florida and cruise slip and fall claim settlements.
In addition, over 86 factors that may affect a Florida or cruise accident case.
Example # 2 – Customer slip and falls on wet floor while walking towards exit; more than 1 exit available
Take the facts of example #1 above. However, assume that there was one or more additional exits/entrance available that he could use. In other words, this was not the only available exit.
The case now becomes tougher. The fair value for settlement purposes is lower.
In this scenario, I think that there is a 50% defense verdict open and obvious, 50-75% comp fault. This would mean that the store’s net exposure is 10% to 20% at the highest.
This is true unless the tiles are not fit for interior use and are extremely slippery and/or past slip and falls/complaints have occurred on this tile.
Low end of net exposure
For settlement purposes, the low end of the store’s net exposure is 25%. This is because the customer’s low end chance of proving that the store is negligent is 50%, and the customer could be 75% at fault.
50% times (100% – 75%) = 25%
50% times (25%) = 12.5%
High end of store’s net exposure
For settlement purposes, the high end of the store’s net exposure is 25%. This is because the customer’s chance of winning is at 50%, and the lowest percentage of his fault is 50%.
50% times (100% – 50%) = 25%
50% times (50%) = 25%
Net exposure range
The store’s (or its insurer’s) claims adjuster would say that the case is worth between 12.5% and 25% of the full value of the case.
But what is the full value of the case? We use the same figures from Example #1. The full value of the combined damages are between $220,000 and $525,000.
In this example, the claims adjuster may be willing to pay between 12.5% and 25% of the case’s full value.
Low end settlement value in this case
So the low end settlement value may be ($220,000 x 12.5%), which is $27,500.
The high end may be ($525,000 x 25%), which is $131,250.
The reputation of the store or its liability insurer will be one factor in their settlement offer.
Settlement value in this case
So the low end settlement value may be ($220,000 x 25%), which is $55,000.
The high end may be ($525,000 x 56.25%), which is $295,312.00.
The reputation of the store or its liability insurer will be one factor in their settlement offer.
Cases for Florida Slip and Falls on a Foreign Substance or Object at the Only Entrance, Exit or Path
Many Florida and cruise accident cases discuss an injured person’s claim when he or she slip or trips while using the only entrance, exit or path.
Trip and Fall on Plastic Claim vs. Walmart in Pinellas County, Florida
Babalola vs. Wal-Mart Stores East, LP d/b/a Wal-Mart Supercenter Store #1390, Dist. Court, MD Florida 2015 is an appeal of a lawsuit where a customer sued Walmart for causing his trip and fall on plastic.
According to Wal-Mart, it owed no duty to warn him of the open and obvious condition that caused him to trip. The customer argued that Wal-Mart, under the circumstances of this case, failed to fulfill its duty of ordinary care in maintaining its premises in a reasonably safe manner, as well as its duty to warn of or disclose the dangerous condition.
See more about why this Tampa court refused to dismiss a customer’s case against Walmart where he claimed that he tripped on plastic in the store, fell and got hurt.
Trip on a “Humped” Mat and Fall Injury Claims in Florida
DeCruz-Haymer v. Festival Food Mkt., Inc., 117 So. 3d 885, 888 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013) is an appeal from Paulette De Cruz-Haymer’s lawsuit against Festival Food Market (d/b/a Bravo Supermarket). (Learn more about slip, trip and fall claims against Florida supermarkets).
A Fort Lauderdale lawyer represented the plaintiff (injured person). The appeals court ruled that under the facts of this case, Bravo’s duty still had a duty to maintain its premises in a reasonably safe condition even though the mat was obvious.
Tip: Complete a detailed slip and fall questionnaire as soon as possible after the accident.
Paulette fell face down, suffering a cut above her left eye and injuring her neck, back, both elbows, and both knees.
Paulette sued Bravo, alleging Bravo was negligent in failing to warn of a dangerous condition. Bravo responded, alleging several affirmative defenses, including that the mat was an open and obvious condition.
The obvious danger doctrine provides that an owner or possessor of land is not liable for injuries to an invitee caused by a dangerous condition on the premises when the danger is known or obvious to the injured party, unless the owner or possessor should anticipate the harm despite the fact that the dangerous condition is open and obvious.” Aaron v. Palatka Mall, L.L.C., 908 So.2d 574, 576-77 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005) (citing Ashcroft v. Calder Race Course, Inc., 492 So.2d 1309 (Fla.1986)).
The Palatka case involved a trip and fall on a parking bumper. (Learn about slip, trip and fall claims against Florida shopping malls and other malls).
The test is not whether the object is obvious, but whether the dangerous condition of the object is obvious. Brady v. State Paving Corp., 693 So.2d 612, 613 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997).
When Bravo calculates the value of Paulette’s case, it will discount the full settlement value of the case because someone (in this case, her husband, Linden) was able to get past the mat without tripping on it.
With only one public entrance, invitees had only one route to enter the store.
My thoughts: The appeals court mentions two (2) times, in its ruling, that there was only one entrance to the store. The court seems to think that this is an important fact in this case.
When the failure to maintain premises is claimed, the obvious nature of the danger creates an issue of fact regarding the shopper’s own comparative negligence. Linden testified that the hump in the mat occurred when the employee laid the mat down, as opposed to some invitee rumpling it as he or she was entering or leaving.
Learn more about this and other personal injury claims if you trip on a rumpled mat, and get hurt, at a Florida supermarket, store, mall, hotel, cruise ship or other place.
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