You’re at the local supermarket when you slip and fall on wet tile floors. You hit your head hard and suffer a traumatic brain injury that puts you in the hospital. It’s evident to you what caused the fall—there was a leaking pipe in the ceiling, and it was dripping on the floor.
You claim that the store owner is liable because they didn’t fix this dangerous condition, leading to your injury. The store owner counters by saying they had no idea that there was a leak. They claim they would’ve fixed it, but they can’t be responsible for something if they were unaware of the issue to begin with. What does this mean for your case?
Should they have known?
In many cases, the store owner could still be liable. They need to take steps to fix dangerous conditions that they know about or that they should have known about in advance.
Often, the determining factor is how long that condition existed. If the pipe just started leaking five minutes ago, the store owner might have a case that they didn’t know and didn’t have time to take steps to make the area safe. However, if it had been leaking for two weeks and they negligently didn’t inspect their own store, while it may be true that they didn’t know about the dangerous condition, they certainly should have known and may still be responsible for your injuries.
As you can imagine, this can make your case a bit more complex than you may have anticipated. Be sure you carefully look into all of your legal options at this time.