Injury Lawyer for Slip and Fall Accidents at Bath Body Works

There are more than 1,600 Bath & Body Works locations across the continental United States with over 90,000 employees. Those numbers are bound to accumulate a heavy volume of customer foot traffic, increasing the chance of hazardous conditions in the stores. If you recently shopped at Bath & Body Works and suffered an injury from a slip and fall accident caused by someone else’s negligence, you may have the opportunity to seek compensation for your losses.

Potential Causes of Slip and Fall Accidents at Bath & Body Works

If you step into any given Bath & Body Works store, you will notice the walls and tables stocked neatly with candles, soaps, lotions, and many other products with the potential to become hazardous. Some possible causes of a slip and fall at Bath & Body Works are:

Customers spill products on the floor.
Customers drop water on the floor at the soap tester sinks.
Customers bring in food or drinks and spill them on the floor. This is common in stores located in shopping centers or malls.
Customers track water from outside, creating a slipping hazard at the entrance.
Torn rugs, broken tiles, or uneven flooring create a tripping hazard.
Precariously stacked displays or shelves fall on customers.
The property owner fails to clear the parking lot or walkways outside following heavy snowfall or icy weather.

Employees at Bath & Body Works frequently walk the store floors to assist customers. Therefore, they should maintain regular shift checks to keep the space safe. When they fail to do so, and an accident happens, the store could be held liable for accidents that result in injury.

Possible Injuries From a Slip and Fall Accident

Not every fall results in an injury. Sometimes you trip or slip and fall just to get back up with little more than a bruised ego, but the risk of mild or severe injury is always there. Such is particularly true for more physically vulnerable demographics, such as seniors. Some possible injuries from a slip and fall accident include:

Back or spinal injuries, such as a twisted spinal cord or compressed vertebrae
Head injuries, ranging from a mild concussion to a traumatic brain injury, such as a fractured skull or hemorrhage
Fractured or broken bones, commonly in the hips, ankles, or wrists
Sprained or strained muscles, commonly in the wrists or ankles
Knee injuries, such as torn or stretched ligaments
Bruises and contusions
Lacerations

The knee is a vulnerable area, especially for people with previous ligament damage, and seniors are much more likely to suffer a broken bone or severe injury in general.

Possible Recoverable Damages

Cases of very severe injuries cause more significant physical, emotional, and financial damage. If someone else is at fault, you may file a lawsuit claiming any of the following damages that apply:

Medical expenses related to the injuries
Future medical expenses if you need ongoing treatment
Loss of earnings if your injuries resulted in missed work
Loss of future earnings if you will have to miss more work for treatments
Loss of earning capacity if your injuries caused a permanent disability
Cost of repair or replacement of damaged property
Pain and suffering
Loss of enjoyment in life
Loss of business opportunity
Mental anguish or emotional distress
Disfigurement

Some of these damages, such as medical expenses or lost wages, you can easily calculate with tangible evidence. Others, such as pain and suffering or loss of enjoyment in life, have no apparent monetary value, but you can calculate them using similar cases and other expert opinions.

Proving Liability in a Slip and Fall Case

To receive compensation, you must prove that the defendant’s negligence caused your accident and the accident caused your injuries. In most cases, you need to show that the property owner or staff knew or should have known about the dangerous condition because any reasonable person would have known and would have done something to remedy it. This can be difficult.

The Standard of Reasonableness and Comparative Negligence

To prove that a reasonable person would know about the hazard and fix it, one must define what constitutes a reasonable person. To do so, the court will typically ask a few questions:

Does the property owner have a procedure to maintain safe store conditions, and is there proof that this procedure exists?
Did poor lighting cause the accident?
If an item caused your accident, was it there for a legitimate reason, and if so, could it have been removed sooner?
Would a sign or partition have prevented the accident?

Evidence in the form of security camera footage or witness testimony may help answer these questions. Still, the court often relies on common sense judgment to determine whether or not the property owner or staff acted reasonably.

Comparative Negligence

Sometimes one party alone is not 100% at fault for the accident. In cases where both parties share responsibility, the rule of comparative negligence applies to determine how to award compensation. Comparative negligence mandates that your percentage of fault be deducted from the awarded amount of compensation. Additionally, New York follows the pure comparative negligence rule, which states that you can receive compensation even if your share of fault is greater than the defendant’s share. For example, if the jury awards you $100,000 in compensation and finds you 75% at fault for the accident, the amount you can receive is $25,000.

Other Relevant Slip and Fall Accident Laws in New York

Two more critical laws apply to slip and fall accident cases: the legal concept of premises liability and the statute of limitations.

Premises Liability

Premises liability generally refers to the duty of care that a property owner owes to those lawfully present on their property. The duty of care specifically means that the property owner must maintain reasonably safe conditions for visitors. For example, New York experiences heavy snowfall in the winter. Therefore, the owner of a Bath & Body Works established independently of a shopping center or mall must remove the snow from the parking lot and outside walkways within a reasonable amount of time.

Another essential element of premises liability is what constitutes a lawfully present visitor. For example, in Bath & Both Works, a public store, customers inherently have express permission to be on the property and are owed a duty of care. The only exception is a trespasser, to whom the property owner does not owe a duty of care.

Statute of Limitations

A statute of limitations is the law that mandates a deadline for you to file a lawsuit. In New York, the statute of limitations for a slip and fall accident is three years from the date of your accident. If you attempt to file after the deadline, the court will likely dismiss your cause without review.

Contact a Slip and Fall Accident Lawyer To Schedule a Consultation

If you suffered an injury in a slip and fall accident case at Bath & Body Works, contact the experienced lawyers at Hill & Moin. You should not suffer financially because of someone else’s negligence. Our knowledgeable attorneys are here to guide you through the legal process and help you recover fair compensation as quickly as possible. Contact us today for a free initial consultation.

If you sustained an injury from a slip and fall accident at any of the following commercial properties, our personal injury attorneys can help:

Sources:

https://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/personal-injury/prove-win-slip-fall-claim.html
https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/new-york-slip-and-fall-laws.html