If you visit a grocery store and get hurt in an unsafe bathroom, you can ask the owners for assistance with paying your hospital bills. The negligent owners and operators of that store, and even a grocery chain, must take responsibility for all of your injury hardships.
Maison Law of California represents premises liability accident victims and offers a free, no-obligation consultation for all victims. It’s an opportunity to learn what your injury is worth from a real lawyer. It’s also a no-risk chance to figure out how hold a giant supermarket chain fully responsible.
Do I Need a Lawyer After Taking a Fall in a Bathroom?
If your accident involves a serious injury, like a wrist fracture or a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBIs), and the store staff’s carelessness is to blame, it’s a good idea to have a lawyer go over your case with you. Injury cases involve more money (especially higher hospital bills), and that means businesses and their insurers will fight harder to avoid taking the blame. Corporate chains can also have corporate lawyers to help them escape fault.
Our California premises liability accident lawyers fully investigate what happened to you. We use the evidence to strike back when insurers call you “clumsy,” hoping to blame the accident on you. We make sure the severity of your injuries is taken seriously, then we work to win you everything you need to restore your life to the way it was before an accident.
Our lawyers are often able to win you much more than you could by taking on a business or a major chain by yourself.
Who Is Liable for My Emergency Room Bills After Falling in a Grocery Store Bathroom?
Stores like Safeway or WinCo Foods are required to do more for customers than bag their groceries and offer weekly deals. All businesses that welcome people in each day must take responsibility for the safety of their customers.
The duty to keep shoppers safe is outlined in California’s Civil Code, Section 1714. In personal injury terms, stores are liable for the customer’s wellbeing in the parking lot, along each aisle and section of the store, and in the bathrooms. When store owners, managers, and employees don’t provide safe shopping conditions, and a customer gets hurt, supermarket chains can be held liable for all the hardships that follow a serious injury.
These are a few examples of the care stores must show their guests:
- Preventing hazards created by employees, like mopping floors without putting out caution signs. This can include the dangers owners are responsible for, such as design problems when bathrooms are built.
- Monitoring for the hazards that other customers cause, such as dropping drinks or candy on bathroom floors.
- Cleaning up the messes located. Store owners and operators must act to clean up messes or repair other dangers.
The key to this liability is the time-table that repairs and clean-up happen. Store managers must see that hazards are fixed or wiped away in a reasonable amount of time. If they fail to inspect often enough or put off expensive repairs, owners and retail chains are liable for the consequences when shoppers get hurt.
Your California Premises Liability Lawyer can gather evidence to show that the owners didn’t take action soon enough and allowed you to get hurt. Your lawyer would be showing how many times owners and operators ignored an issue, and how it led to you being injured.
What to Do After Taking a Fall in a Public Bathroom
After taking a fall in a bathroom and getting hurt, call 911 immediately and request an ambulance.
Then, if you are left strong enough to get up, and it’s safe, you’ll want to collect as much evidence as possible at the scene before it disappears. Odds are, the hazard will be repaired or cleaned up before you or a lawyer you hire can return to the store.
Try to gather these details from your accident:
- Take photos of the obstacle that caused your accident, like a puddle or broken flooring. Show any visible injuries you have.
- Alert an owner or manager to what happened. Help with the creation of an incident report. This report can serve as evidence for your accident.
- Get contact information from witnesses.
- Visit your own physician even if you’ve been to the emergency room. Have all injuries and pain checked out and documented. Follow your doctor’s instructions.
- Save all evidence. Save your receipts if you were shopping when you were hurt. Save the shoes you were wearing. Don’t wear them again. This is helpful in case an insurance company tries to blame your fall on worn-out tread.
- Contact a California Grocery Store Accident Lawyer. Your case may put you up against a national supermarket chain with lawyers of its own. Don’t talk to them until you’ve discussed your options with a legal professional.
The Types of Supermarket Accident Claims We Win for Clients
Supermarkets like Walmart or Ralph’s are busy places. Shoppers and their children can walk through and leave some unbelievable messes behind. Store owners can also put off bathroom repairs, leaving customers at risk. These hazards shouldn’t be your issue.
Unfortunately, you can enter a restroom to face unexpected threats to your safety:
- Leaks and Puddles – Sinks and toilets can leak, and customers can drip water on floors.
- Soap on Floors – Oozing soap dispensers can make tile floors extremely slippery and almost impossible to stand on.
- Mopping without Caution Signs. Employees can mop the bathroom without putting out wet floor caution signs, creating a slip-and-fall hazard.
- Head injuries – Any fall around toilets, sinks, and stalls puts the head at risk of hitting hard porcelain or metal. A fall to the floor can put victims in danger of skull and brain injuries.
- Trash on Floor– A fall can also be caused by trip-and-fall hazards, like trash cans tipped over on the floor. Victims can fall forward to injure facial bones or even lose teeth.
- Floor Damage – A broken tile or drain might catch someone’s shoe, causing them to trip and perhaps catch their head on the edge of the sink.
- Damaged toilets – A broken seat might cause someone trying to take a seat to instead fall between the toilet and a wall. Broken pieces of ceramic can cause cuts and leave scars.
- Exposure to harmful substances – Victims can come in contact with harsh cleaning products or breathe in hazardous fumes.
- Electrical shock – Exposed wiring in bathrooms might give you a serious shock.
- Negligent Security – Grocery store chains can face liability if you are assaulted in the bathroom. They are responsible for the security of customers.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to file an injury claim against a grocery store?
California generally grants victims up to two years to file a premises liability claim. Waiting to contact a lawyer is not recommended. You want to hand your case over to an attorney as soon as possible, while the evidence is still fresh and before surveillance video can be erased.
What if I can’t afford to pay a California restroom injury lawyer?
You won’t need any upfront money to pay Maison Law. Our lawyers work on a contingency basis. It means we don’t get paid unless we win your case. Then our fee comes out of the settlement check that the owner’s insurance company must provide to you and your family.
What Does the Grocery Store Compensate Me For?
If you win your case, all of your medical bills should be fully covered. That means your current bills and any healthcare expenses that may arise in the future involving your injury. The time you must be away from your job and lose paychecks should be reimbursed. The physical pain you are put through, the emotional trauma of the accident, and a challenging recovery should also earn additional money on a settlement check. These are just a few of the factors that can earn you compensation.
Contact a California Supermarket Restroom Accident Attorney
After an accident involving a serious injury in a store bathroom, be sure to discuss your case with an experienced California Premises Liability Accident Lawyer. You should be able to focus on your recovery without worrying about the hospital bills piling up and the paychecks you’re missing while out of work.
Allow Maison Law to go to work on your case to secure the most compensation possible for your recovery.
Contact us today for a free case evaluation to find out how we can assist you. There’s no obligation, and your case review is completely confidential. Not every injury victim earns the same amount in slip-and-fall claims. We want to make sure you get the maximum available.
