Seattle Grocery Store Injury Attorneys
Going to the grocery store is a weekly ritual for most of us. Each day thousands of Seattle residents patronize stores like Wal-Mart or Safeway to buy their groceries. Most of the time these trips are uneventful or unremarkable. But for many of us, a trip to the grocery store can lead to an accident that leaves us with serious injuries.
Slip, trip, and fall accidents are quite commonplace in grocery stores. In many cases, the store’s ownership may be legally liable for injuries arising from such accidents. So if you have been injured while shopping and need legal advice or representation from a skilled lawyer, the team at the Emerald Law Group is here to assist.
Store Owners Can Be Held Liable for Improper Maintenance
We typically do not think of grocery stores as dangerous or high-risk areas. But the reality is that given the heavy traffic seen in most grocery stores, it is far too easy for a safety hazard to develop and injure someone. Some of the more common injuries in grocery stores that we see include the following scenarios:
- A customer slips on spilled liquid in a store aisle.
- There is wet flooring, particularly in an area like the produce section, and there is inadequate signage to warn patrons.
- An improperly stocked product falls off a shelf and hits a customer in the head.
- A product spills into the aisle and creates a tripping hazard.
- A customer trips on an obstruction created by the employees, such as an unloaded pallet or leftover maintenance equipment.
It is crucial to understand that just because you are injured while shopping in a store, that does not always mean the owner is legally responsible. Washington law requires you prove that the store’s ownership or management knew about the hazardous condition that caused your accident–or that they should have discovered the problem through the exercise of reasonable care. For example, if a puddle of liquid was only in a store aisle for a couple of minutes before a customer fell, a court would likely find there was insufficient notice to the management. But if that same puddle had been there for 30 minutes, it can be assumed that a manager should have noticed the problem and taken corrective action.
This issue of “notice” is often one of the more complicated aspects of proving a personal injury claim. It often requires careful pre-suit investigation to review any available evidence, such as the grocery store’s surveillance camera footage. And even when notice can be proven, the store ownership may raise a number of other legal defenses that require a careful, thoughtful response.
Contact Emerald Law Group Today
A slip, trip, and fall accident at a grocery store can easily leave you with thousands of dollars in medical bills and mounting debts due to lost income. That is why it is important to hold negligent store owners responsible if their poor maintenance and management led to your accident in the first place. So if you need to speak with a qualified Seattle injury in grocery store lawyer, contact the Emerald Law Group today to schedule an initial consultation.
