Property owners in Texas owe a duty of care to people whom they invite to visit. When these people slip and fall on a wet floor, the owner is liable for covering their damages.
Wet floor accidents in Spring, TX often occur because the property owner fails to arrange proper maintenance or warn the visitor about a hazard. If this happened to you, you can contact an attorney and file a slip and fall lawsuit. An experienced attorney on your side can be the key to receiving a fair payout.
Main Causes of Wet Floor Accidents
The most common reasons why wet floor accidents occur in Spring are related to the owner’s negligence. They include:
- Unattended Spills: When employees fail to clean up liquid spills promptly, floors become dangerously slick.
- Poor Drainage or Leaks: Roof leaks, plumbing issues, or malfunctioning appliances can leave water on walkways.
- Lack of Warning Signs: Even when a floor is being cleaned, the owner must place visible warning signs. Failing to warn visitors about a wet surface is a clear breach of duty of care.
Evidence of such actions can include camera footage and witness statements. An attorney can also recover cleaning logs and search for previous complaints.
Premises Liability for Wet Floor Accidents
To be liable for a slip and fall on a wet floor in Spring, the owner must owe the duty of care to the visitor. This occurs when they invite the person to come to the property. The type of owed duty differs depending on the status of the visitor:
- Licensee: Someone who enters the property with permission, but not for business purposes (e.g., a guest or neighbor). The owner must warn them about any known hazards that are not obvious.
- Invitee: Someone invited onto the property for business reasons, such as a customer in a store. Property owners must fix hazards before invitees come in and warn them about possible dangers.
However, even if the person is trespassing, they may still be able to recover damages. An example of such an occurrence is a child who sees a pool on a neighbor’s property, climbs over the fence, and slips on a walkway. The pool in this situation is called an “attractive nuisance.” The owner must take reasonable steps to make such objects inaccessible to children.
Damages in a Wet Floor Accident
If the victim of a wet floor incident in Spring can prove the landowner’s liability, they can recover both economic and non-economic damages. The former include medical expenses, lost wages, and recovery costs. Meanwhile, the latter involve the reduction in the person’s quality of life. The size of the settlement depends on the losses you sustained, and an attorney’s ability to convey those losses to the insurer.
Talk to an Experienced Spring, TX Attorney About Wet Floor Accident Lawsuits
Slipping and falling on a wet floor can result in serious injuries. Some people have to go through complex treatment and lose the ability to work for weeks or months. If you sustained such injuries, you have the opportunity to cover the expenses by filing a premises liability lawsuit.
Our personal injury lawyers from Schechter Shaffer & Harris, LLP have decades of experience helping victims of wet floor accidents in Spring recover fair damages. Call us to discuss your case for free at any time.
