Michael Peckham Represents Man Injured in Slip and Fall Incident at Ft. Lauderdale Nightclub

As recently reported in online legal news website the Florida Record, Schwed Adams, Sobel & McGinley attorney Michael Peckham recently filed suit on behalf of a firm client who was injured as a result of the negligence of the owners and employees of Cyn Nightclub in Fort Lauderdale for permitting a liquid substance to accumulate on the floor in the men’s restroom at the club.   To compound matters, neither club management nor its employees took any steps to warn patrons of the liquid or to clean up the puddle before the client fell and was injured. Consequently, the firm’s client suffered bodily injuries that required medical treatment, a period of disability resulting in a loss of earnings, as well as aggravating a pre-existing medical condition the client had suffered from prior to the incident. The lawsuit was filed against OTH Palm Beach Inc., the owner and operator of the club, in Florida state Circuit Court in Broward County.

Slip and Fall Incidents in Florida

Under Florida law, property owners are required to keep their property in reasonably safe condition. This duty includes requirements to protect any guests or visitors from any dangers or dangerous conditions which may exist on the property. If the property owner fails to do so, then a victim who is injured can sue the property owner or operator for this failure.

In order to successfully prove a slip and fall claim in a Florida court, a victim must prove three separate legal elements. First, the injured person must prove the owner of the property on which the victim fell injured herself owed a “duty of care” to the victim. For instance, in the scenario described above, the firm’s client who was injured in Cyn Nightclub, must prove that he was in the club lawfully, that the club operates a business on the premises to which members of the public are invited to visit during the hours when he fell, etc. Under Florida law, every business is deemed to owe a duty of care to any member of the public who enters the business to maintain the establishment in reasonably safe condition and to warn the persons of any dangerous conditions of which the business owner or operator is or should be aware. Finally, the victim must demonstrate that he or she was injured because the business or property owner failed to uphold his or her duty of care.

Damages Available in Florida Slip and Fall Claims 

A slip and fall lawsuit is considered a personal injury lawsuit like a motor vehicle accident, so the damages available include pain and suffering, expenses for any past or future medical treatment the victim may need to seek as a result of his or her injuries suffered due to the slip and fall, and any past and future lost wages the victim has or may suffer as a result of the slip and fall incident.

The Special Rules That Apply Regarding “Transitory Foreign Substances” on Business Premises in Florida

For business owners and operators in the Sunshine State, Florida law imposes a special duty to prevent injuries to the business’s patrons from transitory foreign substances, such as rainwater or the proverbial stray banana peel or other fruit that tends to accumulate on the floor at the grocery store. Under Florida law, if a person slips and falls on a transitory foreign substance in a business, then the victim must prove that the business or its owner had knowledge of the foreign substance and failed to act to clean up the substance in order to succeed on his or her Florida slip and fall lawsuit. However, Florida law permits a victim to introduce evidence that the business owner had actual or constructive knowledge of a foreign transitory substance like a puddle of water on the business owner’s premises. Constructive knowledge means that the business knew or should have known about the transitory foreign substance and the danger it posed to the business’s patrons. For example, in the case of the firm’s client who slipped on a liquid substance in the men’s restroom at Cyn Nightclub, our client can prove this by establishing either that the dangerous condition existed for such a length of time that the business establishment should have known of it or else that the condition occurred with regularity and was therefore foreseeable. In the case of a restroom where (often intoxicated) patrons may have been coming and going and bumping into each other with drinks in their hands, it would be reasonable to expect that the nightclub would expect that spilled drinks or other liquids may occur on the floors of its restrooms. Therefore, it would reasonable to expect that the club would have staff members periodically check to make sure that no such puddles had accumulated and to clean them up if they had.

Contact the Experienced Personal Injury Attorneys of Schwed, Adams, Sobel & McGinley if You Have Been Injured in a Slip and Fall Incident in Florida

Although not every incident makes the news, slip and fall incidents occur frequently in Florida business establishments and on other Florida properties and can result in very serious injuries to those who may be the victim of someone else’s failure to maintain their property in a safe condition or remedy an obviously dangers and unsafe condition on their property, such as what occurred to our firm’s client at Cyn Nightclub in Fort Lauderdale. If you have been injured by a business or individual’s failure to maintain his, her or its property in a safe manner, contact Michael Peckham or any of the other experienced slip and fall attorneys of Schwed Adams Sobel & McGinley today at (877) 694 6079 or contact@schwedlawfirm.com for a free consultation regarding your situation today. At Schwed, Adams, Sobel & McGinley, we are experienced and aggressive personal injuries attorneys who have successfully handled hundreds of slip and fall incidents throughout the State of Florida