When lawyers use the term premises liability case, we are talking about cases involving landowners or injuries that occur on someone’s property. For example, if you go to eat in a restaurant, that restaurant expects to make money from your visit. Under the law, the restaurant has a corresponding duty to make its premises safe for you. Therefore, if you go into a restaurant, there is something unsafe about the floor, and you slip and fall and are injured, that would be a premises liability case. So premises liability cases typically include injuries from falls, inadequate maintenance or repair, elevator and escalator injuries, dog bites, swimming pool accidents, and the like.
Other cases might not seem so obvious, but they are considered premises liability cases under Pennsylvania Law. For example, if you are working on a construction site and are injured, there may be other contractors on the site, architects, engineers, or perhaps even the owner of the property, who should have taken steps to prevent your injury. Therefore, a person who is working on a construction site who suffers injuries may have the ability to pursue a case against one of those other parties that are on site. Another example involves inadequate security–if you are assaulted in a business such as a bar or hotel, the bar or hotel may have a duty under the law to keep you safe. We have successfully helped people recover money damages in cases involving all of the above and more
Is Comparative Or Contributory Negligence Ever Applicable In These Types Of Cases?
Yes, comparative negligence is applicable in these cases and is a common defense in premises liability cases. Under Pennsylvania law, the comparative negligence statute says that if the person who was injured (the plaintiff) is found to be more than fifty percent at fault, then they cannot recover any monetary damages. However, if the injured person is found to be fifty percent or less at fault, then they are entitled to recover damages. The amount of money they receive is reduced by whatever percentage of fault is assigned to them by a jury.
For example, if you are injured on a sidewalk by something that is dangerous, and you bring a case against the property owner, the owner may try to claim that you were not paying attention and that you should have observed and avoided this dangerous condition on your own. Those kinds of questions frequently come up in premises liability cases as to whether the person who is injured was comparatively negligent.
A related defense is called “assumption of the risk”. This defense basically says that if an injured person was subjectively aware of a hazard and made a voluntary election to proceed in the face of that known hazard, that person cannot recover money damages. The most common example is an icy parking lot–if you see that there is dangerous ice blocking your path, but you decide to “chance it”, this defense could bar any recovery.
What Are The Duties Of A Property Owner In A Premises Liability Case?
Generally, a person who owns, occupies, or possesses property should inspect their property periodically in order to see whether there is anything dangerous that might injure someone who comes on to the property. So, if you are a homeowner, you should periodically look at your sidewalk, your driveway, and your property to make sure there is nothing dangerous that might injure someone lawfully on your property. How frequently you should inspect and either warn or fix a danger depends in large part on how the property is used–a grocery store should continuously walk the aisles to look for spills and other dangers, while a homeowner might be able to take a look at their sidewalk once a month in temperate months.
Many people assume that if they are injured on someone else’s property, that property owner is automatically responsible. However, under Pennsylvania law we must prove in most cases that the property owner was negligent, i.e., that it violated a duty to the injured person. Generally, the extent of the duty of a property owner to a third party entering the land depends upon whether the entrant is a trespasser, licensee, or invitee.
The duty of a property owner to a trespasser is very limited. A trespasser has no permission to be on the property and may recover for injuries sustained on land only if the possessor of land was guilty of wanton or willful negligence or misconduct. An exception to this general rule involves children who trespass as a result of an attractive nuisance on the property. An example would be an unguarded pond where the landowner knows that kids from the area trespass to swim.
The duty to a licensee is greater than owed to a trespasser. A licensee is a person who enters or remains on land with the consent of the owner, generally for a social purpose which has no economic benefit for the owner. An example would be a door-to-door salesman or a social guest. The landowner has the duty to warn licensees of dangers known by the landowner. However, there is no duty to a licensee inspect for dangerous conditions or to repair such conditions once they are discovered.
The third category is an invitee. An invitee is invited onto property for the financial benefit of the property owner. An invitee is either a public invitee or a business visitor. A public invitee is a person who is invited to enter or remain on the land as a member of the public for a purpose for which the land is held open to the public. A business invitee is a person who is invited to enter or remain on land for a purpose directly or indirectly connected with business dealings with the possessor of land.
An invitee is owed the highest duty of any entrant upon land. The landowner must actively inspect his land and premises to find dangerous conditions and then warn invitees of the dangers. The landowner must also repair dangers to the extent feasible.
These duties are placed on the owner because the owner derives an economic benefit from the invitee–businesses invite people onto their property to make money and they have a corresponding duty to keep their property safe. So, if there is a restaurant or a department store that invites the public onto its property, that business has to be vigilant and continuously inspect the premises to make sure that there is nothing dangerous on the property. That includes not just obvious things like spills or a crack in a sidewalk, but for many businesses it includes the obligation to make sure that there is not criminal activity occurring on the property, and to make sure that there is appropriate security for its customers. Again, the nature and extent of the duty can vary based upon the use of the property.
For more information on Premises Liability In Pennsylvania, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling 1-844-334-6654 today.