$235,000 Trip and Fall Settlement After Store Entrance Accident
Settlement After a Woman Tripped Over a Store Sign and Needed Surgery
While walking toward the entrance of a store, our client tripped and fell over an advertising sign that the store owner had left on the sidewalk. She fell forward against the outside wall and suffered serious injuries. Her injuries included a fractured wrist and a cut above her eye that required stitches. She also damaged her rotator cuff, which required surgical repair.
After extensive negotiations with the store’s insurance company, Sexner Injury Lawyers LLC secured a $235,000 settlement for our injured client.
Determining Liability in Trip and Fall Cases
A person who falls on another person’s or company’s property does not automatically have a valid lawsuit. The key question is usually whether the property owner, occupier, business, employee, contractor, or another responsible party acted negligently and whether that negligence caused the injury.
This area of law is generally known as premises liability. The Illinois Premises Liability Act provides that the distinction between invitees and licensees is abolished and that the duty owed to those lawful entrants is reasonable care under the circumstances regarding the condition of the premises or acts done or omitted on them.
In a slip and fall accident or trip and fall case, the injured person must usually show more than the fact that an injury occurred. Important questions may include what caused the fall, who created the condition, how long the condition existed, whether the business knew or should have known about it, and whether the dangerous condition was corrected or properly warned about.
Lawful Visitors, Customers, and Trespassers
A store customer is typically on the property for a lawful purpose. When a business opens its doors to the public, shoppers and other lawful visitors may expect the business to use reasonable care to maintain safe walking areas, entrances, sidewalks, aisles, displays, mats, and other areas under its control.
Trespassers are different. A person who enters property without permission, remains after being told to leave, or enters a restricted area may have a weaker claim than a lawful visitor. That does not mean every premises case depends only on labels. The facts, the condition of the property, the conduct of the parties, and Illinois law all matter.
The Requirement of Negligence
Negligence generally means that a person or business failed to act with reasonable care under the circumstances. In a store trip and fall case, negligence may involve placing an object where customers are expected to walk, failing to inspect the entrance, failing to move a hazard, failing to warn customers, or creating an unsafe display or walkway condition.
For example, if a customer trips over a sign, mat, box, cord, uneven surface, or other object near a store entrance, the investigation may focus on whether the business placed the object there, whether employees knew about it, whether the object was difficult to see, and whether customers had a safe path into the store.
Some dangerous conditions are caused by weather, such as rain, snow, ice, water, or wet leaves. Other hazards are created by people, businesses, contractors, maintenance companies, or store employees. No two fall cases are exactly the same, which is why the details of how and why the fall happened are so important.
Common Injuries After a Trip and Fall
A trip and fall can cause serious injuries, especially when a person falls forward into a wall, display, floor, curb, or other hard surface. The CDC notes that falls can cause broken bones and head injuries. In a premises-liability case, common injuries may include:
- Wrist fractures: A person who reaches out to break a fall may fracture the wrist, hand, arm, or elbow.
- Shoulder injuries: A fall can damage the rotator cuff, labrum, tendons, ligaments, or shoulder joint and may require surgery.
- Facial cuts and scarring: Falling into a wall, sidewalk, sign, or floor may cause lacerations, stitches, scarring, or facial trauma.
- Head injuries: A fall may cause a concussion or other head injury, especially when the person strikes a hard surface.
- Back, neck, and hip injuries: The force of a fall may injure the spine, hips, muscles, nerves, or joints.
Legal Help After a Store Trip and Fall
Insurance companies often dispute trip and fall claims. They may argue that the condition was obvious, that the customer should have avoided it, that the store had no notice of the hazard, or that the injury was caused by something else. A careful investigation may involve photographs, surveillance video, incident reports, witness statements, maintenance records, medical records, and evidence showing how the hazard was created.
Since 1990, Sexner Injury Lawyers LLC has represented injured clients in Chicago and throughout Illinois. If you were injured after tripping or falling at a store, call 312-243-9922 or contact us for a free case evaluation.
