This may sound irrelevant, but actually, it has a profound impact on the case.

Diversity Jurisdiction

Diversity jurisdiction gives a federal court the power to hear a case when the amount of money in question exceeds $75,000 and the plaintiffs in question reside in different states. The plaintiff in question resides in Fort Lauderdale where the Walmart is located. By naming an on-duty manager as a co-defendant in this case, the plaintiff has effectively prevented the lawsuit from being heard in federal as opposed to state court.

Walmart attempted to argue that because of the amount of damages the plaintiff was seeking and because of the diversity of citizenships, that the case should be removed to a federal court. In some instances, it could be of benefit for the defense or the plaintiffs to have their cases heard by one or the other court. In this case, Walmart liked its chances with the federal courts while the plaintiffs clearly favored their chances with Florida’s state courts.

What ensued was the addition of the store’s manager to the lawsuit in an attempt to block the case from being removed to a federal court. Walmart was vehement in its arguments that the addition of the manager to the case served no other person than to eliminate the possibility of diversity jurisdiction. They further claimed that managers cannot be held liable in corporate tort claims, so there was no sense in an adding a floor manager to the case other than to block diversity jurisdiction.

While there’s no indication that they were wrong, the court still denied their Walmart’s motion. It will be tried in a Florida court.

What to Do if You Slip and Fall

In order to prove a slip and fall case against a proprietor, you must show that they were negligent. Generally speaking, negligence can be assumed when a spill or a banana peel is left in a high traffic area. However, there are plenty of instances in which a proprietor may not be liable, even when a patron is injured by fall in their store.

The hardest element to prove in a slip and fall case is that the manager knew or should have known about the potential hazard. In the second instance, there may be areas which are prone to spills or even having banana peels thrust about the floor. Here, a personal injury lawyer will make the case that Walmart employees should have been aware of the problem and removed the hazard before it became an injury risk.

The Miami attorneys at the office of Alan Goldfarb, P.A. have litigated several slip and fall accidents. If you have been injured due to carelessness and negligence of a proprietor, you deserve to be compensated. Give us a call at (305) 371-3111 or contact us online, and we can begin preparing your case immediately.

Resources:

flarecord.com/stories/511422425-court-won-t-drop-walmart-manager-from-slip-and-fall-lawsuit

law.cornell.edu/wex/diversity_jurisdiction

Florida is one state in which comparative negligence is the standard in personal injury suits. For instance, an individual can be held partially responsible for their own injury, and still collect damages from another party.

One instance in which this is very common is slip and fall accidents.

Proving Negligence in Slip and Fall Accidents

When considering the question of negligence from the perspective of the liable party (ie: the owner of the property) a plaintiff must establish that the property owner had both a duty to the public to provide a safe place to walk, and breached that duty by either causing the problem themselves, or failing to resolve a problem.

In order for a property owner in a slip and fall accident to be negligent under Florida law, they must first be made aware that there is a problem. A property owner cannot be held liable for a foreign substance that caused a slip and fall if they did not first know about the problem beforehand. There is, however, one caveat.

There are two bases on which knowledge can be inferred. The first is actual knowledge, which is fairly self-explanatory. The second is constructive knowledge. Constructive knowledge means that the property owner should have known that a slip and fall was likely based on, for example, the fact that a certain area is prone to having stuff spilled there.

In other words, the property owner should have inferred based on common sense and precedent, that a certain area was a danger to their customers, and made some reasonable accommodation to see that the area was maintained for safety. If they don’t, it can be argued the incident was a breach of duty.

What Should You Do if You Slip and Fall?

Firstly, the burden of proof is on the plaintiff to prove that the slip and fall was the result of the defendant’s negligence. It may not seem like a vital use of your energy while you’re nursing an injury, but it’s important to your case that you take photographs of the area to show that there was a breach or lapse of care that resulted in your accident.

If there is uncleaned spillage or a freshly waxed floor, you want to try to show that it was the primary cause of the slip and fall. If this cannot be established in court, the defendant can try to claim that there was some other unforeseeable factor that resulted in your injury and that they shouldn’t be held liable because they didn’t know about it.

Has a Property Owner’s Negligence Resulted in Injury to You?

If so, call the office of Alan Goldfarb, P.A. in Miami at 305.371.3111. We’ll make sure you’re compensated for your injuries.

Resource:

eg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0768/Sections/0768.0755.html

Who’s To Blame?

The theory of premises liability, in general, makes a property owner liable for injuries sustained by people who are legally on their property.  We often read about instances in which people are hurt in slip and fall accidents in stores or in a business’s parking lot and, particularly in our area, with its thriving hotel and tourism industry, we see the occasional story of an injury or accident at a hotel pool. In these cases, with narrow exceptions, most often the property owner will bear at least some portion of the liability for the incident, if not all. In the case of the donkey statue, according to reports the restaurant business encouraged the practice of climbing on the statue to take pictures; it is not difficult to understand how this practice could result in someone falling from the statue and sustaining significant injuries. One of the requirements for a property owner to be held liable for injuries and losses suffered on their property is that they were aware of a potentially hazardous situation and did not remedy the situation or properly warn of the danger.

It’s Your Own Fault

One specific exclusion with respect to premises liability law in Florida is if injury is sustained by someone who is on the property for illegal purposes. According to Florida Code Section 768.0705, there is a presumption against liability for injuries that are sustained in connection with a criminal act upon a business’s premises, so long as it was a third party who committed the act and sustained the injury, as opposed to an employee or agent of the business. A property owner’s duty to protect this category of people from harm suffered upon his their premises is at the very least significantly less than the duty owed to those who are on the property for legal purposes.

Alan Goldfarb, P.A. – Your Premises Liability Attorneys

If you have been injured on someone else’s property, whether you fell off a donkey statue while taking advantage of a good photo opportunity or you suffered a slip and fall accident at a local business due to a freshly mopped and slippery floor, we can help. The Miami premises liability attorneys at the office of Alan Goldfarb, P.A. will review your case with you to determine whether the property owner should be held liable for your injuries and, if that is the case, we will aggressively pursue the compensation you are entitled to for your injuries. Do not delay; contact us now to set up your appointment today and get started towards the recovery you deserve.

Resources:

leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0768/Sections/0768.0705.html

local10.com/news/weird-news/florida-woman-sues-mexican-restaurant-after-falling-off-donkey-statue

A cargo ship located at Port Everglades was the site of a slip and fall accident recently when a woman fell on the top deck and had to be retrieved by ladder. According to reports, the woman was taken to the hospital with unknown injuries as a result of the accident and, while details about exactly what happened are sparse, the Miami area is no stranger to the dangers associated with slip and fall incidents on ships of all types.

Slippery Deck Hazards

With its vibrant shipping and cruising industries, shipboard activities can easily and quickly lead to injuries of all types and severity. What starts out as a romantic or fun-filled moonlight stroll on the deck can quickly become an emergency medical situation. Cruise ship decks are notoriously slippery surfaces and narrow or steep stairwells can present hazardous conditions for even the most seasoned cruise ship travelers. A simple slip and fall can result in serious injuries to the legs, arms, neck or back including bruises, cuts, sprains, or even fractures. When these accidents occur, who bears the blame?

Premises Liability

In Florida, the concept of premises liability is most often a part of any slip and fall case, whether on land or at sea. Under Florida Code Section 768.0755, a business is liable for any injuries suffered by people on the business premises if the business had knowledge – whether constructive or actual – of the dangerous condition that led to the accident and injury and should have done something about the condition. So in the case of a cruise ship slip and fall, the cruise line should know that there is always a chance that a deck will be slippery and it should take action to ensure that the conditions are addressed; if not, they can be held liable for the injuries caused as a result of the hazardous condition.

Constructive Versus Actual Knowledge

So what does it mean to have knowledge of a dangerous situation, in a premises liability context? And what is the difference between constructive and actual knowledge? Actual knowledge is exactly that – the business owner actually knows of the situation. Constructive knowledge, on the other hand, is a more elusive concept; basically, a business owner is said to have constructive knowledge of a dangerous condition if the evidence shows that either the condition existed for long enough that the business should have known of the condition or the condition was foreseeable because it happened regularly. In those scenarios, even if the business was not aware that the condition was actually present, they should have known it could have been.

Contact Us Today for Professional Representation

If you have been injured as a result of a slip and fall accident, you may be able to receive compensation for your injuries. It is important to speak with an attorney experienced in these types of matters who will be able to fully assess your case and determine the best way to proceed with holding the correct parties accountable for their actions – or inactions – that led to your injuries. The Miami attorneys at the office of Alan Goldfarb, P.A. are here to help. With our background of handling all types of personal injury matters, including slip and fall accidents such as yours, we have the experience you can trust. Contact us today and let us get started working towards getting you the compensation you are entitled to receive.

Resource:

wsvn.com/news/local/woman-hurt-after-falling-on-cargo-ship-at-port-everglades/