Maison Law represents injury victims in slip and fall accidents at a Rainbow Market & Carniceria in Bakersfield. Like any other grocery store, these places have a number of different things that can lead to these accidents–and leave you facing significant medical bills and other damage. To discuss a potential case, contact us today for a free consultation.
Should You Hire a Lawyer?
First things first, you don’t have to get a lawyer if you slip and fall at Rainbow Market. If it’s a minor accident and you’re not badly hurt, you can just ask the store–more specifically your or their insurance company–for help directly. But if you’re seriously injured or the fall was really traumatic, our team can help you more.
We work on a “contingency basis,” which means you don’t have to pay us anything upfront. Instead, we’ll take a percentage of the settlement or verdict if we go to trial. This way, you don’t have to worry about paying right away, and we’ll work hard to make sure you get the most money possible for your case.
Other Factors
While Rainbow Market offers convenience for many of its customers, it unfortunately poses the risk of slip-and-fall accidents. Whether it’s due to slippery floors or crowded aisles, the potential for losing balance and falling on the hard surface is simply part of shopping there. At the same time, understanding the impact of these accidents is crucial for putting together an effective response. Here’s a breakdown of what usually happens:
- Injuries – Slip-and-fall accidents can cause a range of injuries, from minor bruises to severe trauma like broken bones or brain injuries, depending on what happened.
- Emotional and psychological effects – Besides physical harm, these accidents can also cause emotional distress, including anxiety, depression, or even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These emotional effects can really affect someone’s well-being and quality of life.
- Financial problems – Slip-and-fall accidents often bring financial troubles, like medical bills, lost income from not being able to work, and the need to file an injury claim. These things can put a lot of strain on both you and your family, as well as those that depend on you.
What makes slip-and-fall accidents even harder is that all these problems often happen at the same time, especially when money is already tight. So, it’s really important to get the right help and advice when dealing with the legal side of things.
What Are My Damages and Who is Responsible?
Once you decide to move forward with your legal options, there’s two main starting points for your claim: your damages and who is responsible. In legal terms, your “damages” refer to your losses and other harm that you suffered from the accident, while the person or entity that’s responsible for covering these damages is termed “liability.”
Basically, these two things are connected. So, it’s important to understand what makes up these damages and how liability is determined.
Damages
Filing an injury claim, either through an insurance claim or personal injury lawsuit, is the most direct path to recovering damages. While this requires presenting a case, including evidence like medical records, visual evidence, and other important documentation, the stronger your claim is, the more damages you can potentially recover. While every case is different, a successful claim will allow you to potentially get back:
- Medical expenses
- Ongoing care costs, such as physical therapy
- Permanent disability
- Lost wages or earning potential
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of quality of life
Liability
In order to figure out who exactly is responsible for covering these damages after a slip and fall, you’re going to need to show negligence. In most cases, this is going to fall on Rainbow Market’s store management and employees. This is because, as a business, they:
- Have a duty to you and other customers to keep you safe and free from hazards while you’re shopping there.
Should they fail in this duty, the store could bear responsibility for your resulting injuries. To establish liability, either you or the injured party must provide evidence showing that Rainbow Market:
- Knew about the danger but didn’t deal with it.
- Should’ve known about the danger but didn’t do enough to make it safer.
It’s crucial to take into account California’s “comparative negligence” law, which means you might share some responsibility if, for instance, you were distracted or were in an employees only area of the store during the fall.
Potential Slip and Fall Hazards at Rainbow Market
In terms of potential hazards that can cause a slip and fall accident, Rainbow Market is much like any other grocery store in Bakersfield. While some stores are more well-off in terms of resources and location, the underlying causes of these accidents are present throughout these stores. Here’s a few of these hazards:
- Spills – Spills often happen in places like the produce section, near refrigerators, or at the checkout counters. If these spills aren’t cleaned up quickly or marked with warning signs, shoppers might step on them and slip.
- Slippery floors – Rainbow Market regularly polishes their floors to keep them clean. But if they don’t put up signs to warn shoppers about wet areas, people might walk on the wet floor and slip.
- Uneven or loose flooring – Sometimes, the floors might be uneven or have loose tiles because they aren’t properly maintained or repaired.
- Obstacles – Customers might drop things or leave them in unexpected spots, like in the middle of an aisle. These things can cause people to trip and fall.
- Lack of warning signs – Store management should use signs and barriers to tell customers about dangers like wet floors or cleaning areas. If these signs are missing or not enough, accidents are more likely to happen.
- Poor crowd control – Rainbow Market is usually busy with lots of shoppers, especially near the aisles and checkout areas. This can make it easy for accidents to happen because of all the people moving around quickly.
So, as you can see, there are many reasons why slip and fall accidents happen at a Bakersfield Rainbow Market. While you might not always be able to avoid them, facing the aftermath of these incidents becomes very important to your overall recovery. That’s why you need to do things like:
- Report the fall to store employees or management
- Get medical care as soon as you can
- Take down details about the incident
- Preserve any evidence and track your damages
By taking these steps, you can protect your health and claim. At the same time, these accidents can happen when you can least afford it or expect it. When they happen to you, reach out to our team for guidance and support.
Get Help from Maison Law After a Bakersfield Slip and Fall Accident
If you get hurt while shopping at a Rainbow Market or anywhere else in Bakersfield, Maison Law will be there to support your recovery. Our experienced team of grocery store slip and fall accident lawyers understands how to approach these cases and what you need to do for a successful injury claim. Don’t wait–contact us today for a free consultation to talk about your options.
