In a city the size of Spokane, shoppers have a fair selection of grocery stores to choose from. This is good for competition giving shoppers greater selection and better prices. However, in one thing all grocery stores share and that is the risk of a slip and fall accident.
Grocery stores—whether a high-end store like Rosauers Supermarket or a discount store like Bargain Giant—are a cacophony of slip and fall hazards waiting to catch some unsuspecting customer. Some stores are very safety conscious while others are not.
Regardless of efforts, slip and falls will happen due to the nature of the business. All it takes is a busted watermelon or a broken wine bottle, and a customer can go down and be seriously injured.
Many supermarkets have similar hazards. We have seen slip and fall accidents occur locally at
Causes of Spokane Grocery Store Slip and Falls
The most common cause of a slip and fall injury in a grocery store is a spill or something slick on the floor. At Crary & Domanico, P.S., we’ve helped injured customers recover financially from all sorts of slip and fall accidents. Some of the more common reasons people are injured in a grocery store are;
- Broken wine bottles
- Fruit knocked on the floor
- Cooking oil
- Spilled bottled water
- Pickle juice
- Fallen signage or advertisements
- Mops
- Brooms
- Cleaners
- Boxes left in the aisles
- Collapsed wet floor signs
- Leaks from roof
- Leaks and condensation from freezers and coolers
Injuries From a Slip and Fall
A fall can be dangerous and even deadly. Once someone is off-balance, their ability to defend themselves is diminished, and a fall can bring great force to the victim’s head or other vulnerable body parts. Hard falls produce serious injuries and in some cases, death. Some of the most common injuries at Spokane’s grocery stores are:
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Concussion
- Shattered Wrist
- Fractured Hips
- Shattered Elbows
- Fractured Dislocated Shoulders/Clavicle
- Cracked Skull
- Facial Bone Fractures
- Ankle Sprains/Breaks
How to Make a Spokane Slip and Fall Claim
Under Washington law, if someone is injured falling on another person’s property, they have to prove that the fall was due to the negligence of the store owner or manager. To prove negligence, the victim has to show:
- That the fall happened on the owner’s premises,
- That there existed a hazard which caused the fall,
- That the owner either created the hazard or was notified of the hazard and did not fix it in a timely manner.
Where most slip and fall cases fail is in the last one. Stores will say that they had only just heard about the hazard and were about to clean it up. They will produce logs that show how often they sweep for hazards, and their employees will all swear that everything was done according to their manuals.
What to do After a Slip and Fall Accident?
At Crary & Domanico, P.S., we decline to take their word for it, and we know how to pick apart their defense. If you’ve been injured in a fall at a grocery store, there are some things that you should do right away:
- Don’t talk to the manager or any employee except to say that you were injured.
- Take photos with your phone if you can.
- Get the name/contact info of any customers around.
- Get the names of the employees and managers on at the time.
- Call an attorney right away.
It’s crucial that you speak to a knowledgeable attorney right away that knows what to do right after the accident to preserve evidence so the negligence of the store can be proven.
Contact a Spokane Premises Liability Attorney
Established in Spokane in 1948, Crary & Domanico, P.S. is committed to providing our clients with the absolute highest quality legal representation. If our Spokane Premises Liability Attorney represents you for your injury case, you have our assurance that we will use our absolute best efforts to win your case. Contact us after any accident resulting in a serious injury for a free, confidential consultation and case evaluation. We will only offer you advice which is in your best interest.
