Boca Raton Best Buy Faces Lawsuit from Woman Injured in Trip and Fall Accident
A “big box” store such as Best Buy is one of the safest places you can be when you are trying to take shelter from one of Florida’s legendary lightning storms or hurricanes. What about the times when big retail stores are dangerous, though? When the stores are properly maintained, the chances of someone getting injured in one of them are very low. It is no coincidence that the stores are so safe; their management and employees inspect them regularly and perform constant upkeep and maintenance. When the management of a store does not ensure safe conditions for customers, a customer who gets injured in the store has recourse to a premises liability lawsuit.
The Janet Hall v. Best Buy Stores Case
On January 15, 2019, Janet Hall of Coral Springs went shopping at the Best Buy Store on US 441 in Boca Raton. While shopping in the store, she tripped over the metal divider on the floor that separates the appliances department from the rest of the store. The complaint that Hall filed against Best Buy does not go into detail about the nature of her injuries other than to say that the fall aggravated an old arm injury of hers and that she continues to suffer from physical and mental pain as a result of the accident and the disruption it has caused to her ability to perform ordinary activities. She is seeking more than $15,000 in damages from Best Buy.
The Legal Issues
Hall’s lawsuit against Best Buy is a premises liability lawsuit. She alleges that the floor of the store was poorly maintained, such that the divider between the appliances department and the rest of the store was loose enough for her to trip over it. She claims that failing to secure the divider amounts to negligence on the part of Best Buy.
In premises liability lawsuits, negligence means a breach of the duty of care. Just what is Best Buy’s duty of care, though? The law holds places of businesses to a high standard when it comes to keeping customers safe. They must observe the utmost caution to ensure customers’ safety and preventing accidents. Guests injured at social gatherings in private homes can also file premises liability lawsuits, but the duty of care that social hosts have toward their guests does not require them to go as far out of their way to prevent accidents as businesses do. Even trespassers can file premises liability lawsuits if they can prove that the owner of the property where they were trespassing injured them intentionally.
Let Us Help You Today
If you have been injured in an accident where you slipped and fell at a place of business where you were a customer, you might have grounds for a lawsuit against the place of business where the accident took place. Contact Palm Beach Gardens premises liability attorneys at Smith, Ball, Báez & Prather Injury Lawyers for a consultation.
