If there’s one commonality among the different New Haven grocery stores, it’s that they all are bright inside thanks to their use of fluorescent bulbs. The truth is that despite being well-lit, countless individuals have slip-and-fall incidents both in and outside of grocery stores every year. If you’re seriously injured in such an incident, you’ll be relieved to find out that you may be able to sue the store for your medical costs and lost wages.
Many slip-and-falls that occur inside a grocery store happen because someone spills something that doesn’t get reported to staff and cleaned up in time before another customer comes along and slips down in the spill. Slip-and-falls also can occur if the staff mops or waxes the floors at busy times of the day or in highly trafficked areas of the store. They even happen at entryways when people track rain, snow or ice inside.
Even outside of the store, there may be untreated icy sidewalks or locations where water has puddled because of a defect with the building’s roof. There may be poorly lit areas of the parking lot that have cracked, raised or otherwise hazardous issues with the pavement. All of these can make customers vulnerable to slips, trips and falls.
Many slip-and-fall victims don’t realize it’s not necessary for them to have purchased anything at the grocery store or to have gone to the emergency room after their incident in order to be eligible to file suit against a Connecticut grocery store.
You can still sue them for negligence just for having been on their property with the intention of heading in the store and buying something. You can also use your previous medical records to establish a baseline for how you weren’t experiencing pain before the incident and future ones showing how things changed.
Like any accident, your slip-and-fall injuries may initially seem far more minor than they actually are. While you may initially be shocked and think that that preliminary pain will wear off, for many, it doesn’t. It instead gets worse. In situations like this, you should first seek out medical attention then consult with a premises liability attorney who will advise of what you should know about slip-and-fall cases.
