If you have been injured at a retail establishment, you might be left wondering who can be held liable? With accidents involving significant medical bills, lost or damaged property, and/or loss of livelihood from the experience, you are entitled to compensation to cover your losses.
In seeking compensation though, unlike in other premises liability cases, not only does the liable party need to be identified, but the classification of the injured individual must be determined.
A person on a property falls into one of three categories:
INVITEE
when a person is expressly or impliedly invited onto the premises for the mutual benefit of the invitee and property owner; customers of a retail center fall under this category. Invitee’s are entitled to the highest level of care and regard for safety.
LICENSEE
when a person is invited onto the premises and they are not seeking to engage in financial transactions; guests of social events often fall under this category. Unlike an invitee, the process of recovering losses as a licensee has circumstantial requirements that must be identified in order to have a case against the property owner.
TRESPASSER
when a person enters the premises without the consent or knowledge of the property owner. Property owners are not responsible for injuries sustained by trespassers.
California law stipulates that if the victim was an invitee, the property owner must take reasonable care to repair, replace, or provide suitable warnings for hazards that could cause injury. If the property owner neglects to take reasonable care to prevent injury, according to premises law in California, they can be held liable.
Common injuries include:
- Escalator Accidents
- Stairway Accidents
- Parking Lot Accidents
- Slip and Fall Accidents
- Elevator Accidents
- Falling Objects and Falling Merchandise
- Falling Debris from construction or remodeling in shopping malls
- Robbery, Assault and Battery in Shopping Malls
- Burn injuries and accidents in shopping mall food courts
Having handled countless personal injury cases, we know how crucial it is to collect evidence as soon as possible after the injury occurs. The qualified attorneys at Savin & Bursk are ready to stand by you and get you the compensation you deserve.
