If you’ve lost your footing and fell at Burger King, or any fast food restaurant, you could file a personal injury claim against the restaurant. An insurance settlement or a personal injury lawsuit settlement can cover medical expenses and other injury related costs, but it can also compensate you for emotional distress, pain and suffering, and other personal losses.
Potential Slip and Falls in a Fast Food Restaurant
Hazardous conditions could occur in a fast food restaurant include:
- Spilled drinks that create wet and slick floors.
- Spills that are left unaddressed that can result in sticky flooring.
- Grease that builds up on tile floors that can make surfaces slippery.
A slip and fall may happen anywhere on the restaurant’s property, and outdoor hazards may result in injuries too. Outdoor hazards may include:
- Cold weather conditions that cause icy sidewalks or slick parking lots.
- Heavy rains that result in standing water or mud covered walkways.
Like all businesses, Burger King has set standards for cleanliness and safety, but each franchise location may also have its own unique standards as well. An employee’s or manager’s negligence may result in an unsafe environment. A failure to provide safe conditions for visitors and diners can put the franchise restaurant or corporation legally at fault for your slip and fall injuries.
How long to file a slip and fall case
If you have slipped and fallen over and injured yourself in a Burger King or any fast food restaurant, then theoretically you have as long as the state in which the restaurant is is located has decided you can have before you can no longer file a claim. This is called the statute of limitations.
In nearly every state, the statute of limitations for personal injury claims is 2 or 3 years from the date of the injury. The only exception is if you have had an accident, but symptoms of the injury don’t show up until later.
Despite the lengthy time for filing a claim, it is really important to get the claim process underway as soon as you are able to. Obviously if you are badly injured, all you will be thinking about is getting treatment.
The reason why time is important is that to win a PI claim you must be able to prove that someone at Burger King, one of the employees, the manager, or the company itself, was to blame for your injuries.
You will need evidence for your claim and that is a lot easier to find just after the accident than several weeks, or months, let alone years later. For example, it is highly likely that several other customers and employees saw you slip and fall over. They may have helped you up, gave you emergency treatment or called for an ambulance.
These people are the best evidence for your claim when you eventually submit it. They will not only be able to confirm that you were in the restaurant at the time you state in your claim and fell over, injuring yourself, but can confirm why you slipped over. It might have been food or drink that had been left on the floor, or a recently cleaned floor.
Previous Slip and Fall Settlements
A few examples include:
- A June 2011 claim filed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where a man allegedly tripped over loose bricks left sitting in the middle of the public parkway. The man asserted he suffered internal and external injuries and demanded damages to cover medical expenses and other compensation.
- The Louisiana Record, for example, reported on a typical example of a slip and fall accident that occurred at a Harvey Burger King in July 2016. The accident happened when a patron slipped and fell over after stepping into a puddle of liquid on the restaurant floor. She injured her hip and head and her and her husband claimed that the franchisees were negligent in not cleaning the floor or posting a warning. They claimed all reasonable damages, costs and attorneys’ fees. There is no indication of the amount of settlement or whether the claim was successful.
If you slip and fall and injured yourself in the process, you may be eligible for a personal injury claim. There are three factors that go into determining a settlement in a slip and fall case, they are negligence, liability and the plaintiff's freedom of fault.
If your are able to prove that the established business was negligent and they were liable for the indecent that happened on their property and that you are free of any fault, then you could be awarded damages.
Damages received from a slip and fall claim can help cover medical bills, attorney fees, cost of future medical expense and other day to day needs. Your personal injury attorney will be able to counsel you on if a settlement is fair or not.
If you’ve suffered injuries due to a slip and fall at a Burger King, or any other established business, you may want to talk to a personal injury lawyer. A lawyer can help you collect evidence and build a strong case. An attorney familiar with slip and fall claims can serve your interests in insurance negotiations and in court, if you must file a lawsuit.
*The content of this article serves only to provide information and should not be construed as legal advice. If you file a claim against Burger King or any other party you may not be entitled to any compensation.
Cases Taken from:
- pennrecord.com/stories/510551289-burger-king-faces-slip-and-fall-claim
- louisianarecord.com/stories/511150294-couple-seeks-damages-for-slip-and-fall-in-a-burger-king
