Picture it: an older male customer is in a fast-casual restaurant by the drink machines. No other customers are around. The customer presses the lever located in the middle of the drink machine and cubes of ice tumble out into the customer’s paper cup.

The customer looks over his left shoulder, and then his right.

After getting the ice, the customer walks a few paces to his left, looks around again, and then turns his cup upside down, ice cubes splattering across the laminate floor. The customer quickly throws the cup into the trash, takes a look around again, and then, after a brief pause, falls artfully to the floor — just in front of the newly spilled ice cubes — placing himself solidly on his back, staring up at the ceiling. He waits for an employee to discover him.

Sounds pretty ridiculous, right? This scene actually happened and was caught on the restaurant’s surveillance camera.

Unfortunately, slip and fall accidents have become somewhat of a running joke in popular culture. These types of accidents are viewed as ways to get rich quick: simply fake an injury or fall in a retail establishment with deep pockets — and get paid!

This perception of these type of accidents, though comical at times, does a disservice to those individuals who are actually injured due to the negligence of others. The basic legal idea behind slip and fall cases is that while an individual is on the property of someone else, either as a customer or a guest, the owner of the property has a legal duty to keep the visiting individual safe from dangerous conditions while he or she is on the property. When the property owner fails to keep an individual safe by not taking specific actions (like cleaning ice up off of the floor, for example), and an individual is truly injured because of the property owner’s failure to act, then a legal claim may arise.

This same legal principle applies to the actions of others as well. If another individual, Person A, spilled ice at the restaurant, for instance, and the restaurant manager knew about the spill but didn’t clean it up quickly, then the person who slips and falls because of the ice, Person B, and was truly injured may still have a claim against the restaurant. In this instance, the restaurant knew or should have known that there was a condition on the property that was potentially dangerous to other customers but did nothing to remedy the condition.

Another factor of slip and fall cases that is not as widely discussed is whether the person injured was at fault in any way. If the injured party didn’t have a valid reason for being in the area of the dangerous condition or if there were warning signs posted by the property owner that the injured party didn’t see but should have, then the injured party may be considered to be at fault, which may keep the injured party from recovering any money in a legal action.

Slip and fall accidents can be, well, slippery. There are many factors to consider when trying to decide whether an individual has a valid claim. If you are looking for an attorney to assist you with recovering expenses from a personal injury you received while on someone else’s property, you should consider The Fairell Firm.

We hope you use our personal injury firm’s blog as a resource as you pursue your personal injury claim and settlement. We’ve covered such topics as what to do after a slip and fall accident , questions to ask your personal injury lawyer , and how social media can hurt your personal injury case .

Our personal injury firm is well-versed in personal injury law (as well as family law). The experienced and skilled attorneys at The Fairell Firm will talk with you and help you determine whether you have a solid case. Serving clients in the metro Atlanta area, The Fairell Firm personal injury lawyers work tirelessly to achieve satisfactory outcomes for their clients. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.