Grocery Store Accident Lawyer

 

A grocery store accident lawyer helps those who have suffered an injury, by no fault of their own, after having an accident at any of the various food markets around the country, whether it’s a mom and pop shop or a large corporation. On the average day, there are 32 million Americans who shop at stores such as Acme and Stop and Shop, and hundreds of these fall victim to an accident every year.

 

You should not have to pay for medical care if your injury is the fault of the grocery store you’re in. You have the right to file a lawsuit against those responsible, including the store owner, the property manager, and others. To learn about your options, reach out to a personal injury attorney.

 

Common Grocery Store Accidents and Injuries

 

Grocery stores such as Fresh Grocer and Piggly Wiggly can be risky for any age or type of customer to visit. There are a variety of potential dangers, including items on the floor, spills and puddles, inadequate lighting, and hazardous materials. Some of the most common injuries in grocery stores happen due to:

 

• Damaged grocery carts
• Slip and fall on cracked/uneven outside pavement
• Slip and fall on ice in the parking lot
• Slip and fall on spilled liquid in the building
• Inadequate lighting or security
• Pallets, boxes, and other items left in the aisles
• Items falling from shelves
• Hazards on the floor (nails, screws, broken flooring, broken stairs)
• Unmarked hazards (wet floor, broken glass, uneven pavement)

 

Around the nation, customers at food markets such as Acme, Whole Foods, and Superfresh can fall victim to accidents that lead to anything from a minor sprain to a serious injury. Common grocery store injuries include:

 

• Head wounds
• Broken/sprained bones
• Concussions
• Eye trauma
• Dislocated shoulder or hip
• Broken neck
• Back and spinal cord injuries

 

Who is Responsible Should a Grocery Store Accident Happen?

 

It’s important to understand who can be held liable for your injuries if you are in an accident at your local grocery store, whether it may be Harris Teeter, Safeway, Wegman’s, or others. Depending on the store and location, there are multiple parties you may to pursue.

 

Examples of groups and individuals who could be held responsible for your suffering include the store owner, the building owner (if different than the store owner), the store’s parent company, the company in charge of property management, the parking lot owner, the security company assigned to the area, and any other party who failed to provide a safe shopping experience for you.

 

 

The Duty of Care

 

The duty of care is a type of protection owed by those in charge of a property to all visitors of that property. Whether the owner of the store, a management company at the property, or any other business, they should act like any reasonable business would under circumstances comparable to your accident.

 

Duty of care is taken into account whenever there is an accident that results in an injury at a grocery store such as Winn Dixie or Food Lion. To find the defendant guilty of negligence, the injured plaintiff must prove the following:

 

 

• They were owed a duty of care by the defendant
• There was a breach of said duty of care
• The damages suffered by the plaintiff were caused by the duty of care being breached

 

Grocery Store Slip and Fall Accidents

 

Slip and falls are the most common type of accidents that happen at grocery stores. This is because there are so many items and situations in grocery stores that can cause these accidents that it’s more likely for customers to injure themselves in a slip and fall than in any other way. These cases are not always simple, as it’s not always as obvious a cause as a broken jar with glass and salsa all over the aisle of your Trader Joe’s. Other causes of slip and fall accidents in grocery stores include:

 

• Spilled food/drinks/other products
• Freshly mopped floors
• Ice/pothole/other hazard in the parking lot or sidewalk
• Bunched/faulty/missing weather mats at entrance/exit
• Aisle obstructions
• Leaking refrigerators/freezers
• Broken shopping carts

 

 

Needless to say, slip and fall accidents at food markets such as Aldi and Fresh Market can be caused by a large variety of problems that the property owner or manager are responsible for preventing. When there is an issue that presents a danger, they need to remedy it as quickly as they can to prevent any accidents or injuries. If they don’t fix these problems and someone does get hurt as a result, they can be held liable for that person’s injuries.

 

What Damages Can be Recovered in a Grocery Store Accident Lawsuit?

 

Anyone who suffers an injury due to an accident at a Publix, H-E-B, or the like, will most likely want to find out if they are able to receive compensation for these injuries. The short answer is yes!

 

For a claim such as this to be effective, the plaintiff must demonstrate 3 basic things: they suffered an injury, this injury lead to damages, and the injury was due to the negligence of someone in association with the food market. Types of damages that can be recovered in a grocery store accident includes:

• Pain and suffering
• Medical expenses, e.g. ambulance transportation, hospital treatment, surgeries, prescriptions, etc.
• Lost wages both currently and in the future
• Home renovation costs if you sustain an injury resulting in a permanent disability

 

Pain and suffering, including emotional trauma that victims experience, is the most difficult of these to quantify at it leaves no physical evidence. To receive compensation for pain and suffering, it is often helpful to have a doctor’s diagnosis.

 

 

How an Injury Lawyer Can Help

 

As mentioned before, the owner and property manager of your local grocery market have a duty of care to maintain a safe environment for their visitors, including both customers and vendors. Dangers present on the property require the store to provide proper warnings to prevent accidents. Warnings can include closing aisles, taping off hazardous areas, placing signs in front of the hazard, and making store-wide loudspeaker announcements

 

Accident victims injured at stores such as Costco or Albertsons can recover compensation for many aspects of their injury with the help of a grocery store attorney, as long as the accident was not their fault. If you or a loved one sustained an injury from a grocery store accident, make sure to speak with a qualified and experienced personal injury or premises liability lawyer. Suffering painful injuries from a grocery store accident can be costly, especially if you have to miss work for recovery. An attorney will work hard to ensure those whose negligence caused your accident are held responsible, and help you receive the compensation you deserve.