Premises liability cases arise when a person gets hurt on property belonging to someone else. For example, a puddle in the aisle of a grocery store could cause someone to slip and fall. Or inadequate security, such as broken locks, may enable someone to break into a property and assault the occupant. In these situations, victims may wonder whether they have a legal case against the owner or manager of the property where the incident occurred.
In Florida, the success of premises liability cases depends on the victim proving that the property owner or manager owed them a duty of care and that they breached that duty. But what is a duty of care?
A duty of care is a legal term obligating an individual to act reasonably and responsibly to prevent harming someone else. The duty of care in premises liability cases means keeping the property free from known hazards, regularly checking for dangerous conditions, and warning individuals of dangers that haven’t been fixed yet or are inherent to the property.
Duty of Care in Premises Liability Cases
The property owner’s duty of care depends on the type of visitor they are. According to Florida premises liability law, there are three categories of visitors:
- Invitees – Business invitees are on a company’s property for reasons that financially benefit the business. Examples include store customers and restaurant patrons. Public invitees are on property open to the public, like city parks. Property owners owe invitees the highest duty of care and must ensure the premises are reasonably safe. To maintain a safe property for invitees, owners must conduct regular inspections, address potential hazards, and warn invitees of known dangers.
- Licensees – Florida recognizes two types of licensees: invited and uninvited licensees. Invited licensees enter a property for social reasons or personal convenience with the owner’s permission, such as guests at a private residence. Uninvited licensees visit a property without the owner’s consent, such as a salesperson canvassing a neighborhood. Owners owe the same duty of care to invited licensees as invitees. However, their only obligation to uninvited licensees is to warn them of a known hazardous condition and avoid wantonly or willing harming them.
- Trespassers – Trespassers are individuals who enter someone else’s property unlawfully. In Florida, property owners generally owe no duty of care to trespassers other than to avoid willful or wanton harm and to warn of known dangers not open to ordinary observation upon discovering the trespasser’s presence. This rule is modified for children under the attractive nuisance doctrine, which imposes a duty on landowners to exercise reasonable care to prevent harm to trespassing children if certain conditions are met.
Establishing Breach of Duty in Premises Liability Claims
A breach of duty occurs when a property owner fails to uphold the standard of care required for a particular visitor. For example, if the property owner knew that their stairs were unstable and failed to warn or prevent invitees or licensees from using them, that could be a negligent breach of their duty of care.
Consider another example: A broken jar of pasta sauce sits on a grocery store floor for two hours without getting cleaned up or a warning sign placed around it. Puddles and broken glass are known hazards capable of causing serious and potentially fatal injuries. A store breaches its duty of care if no one promptly found or mopped up the spill.
Sometimes, there are hazards that a property owner can’t foresee. For example, they might not know of a roof leak until it rains. Since they can’t immediately fix the problem, they should take reasonable security measures to prevent injuries by placing a bucket under the leak and warning visitors with a wet floor sign. Otherwise, they could be held liable for breaching their duty of care.
An experienced premises liability lawyer can review the circumstances of the accident and gather evidence to establish the property owner’s negligence in your case.
Exceptions and Special Circumstances
There are a few exceptions that may apply to premises liability claims:
- Open and obvious dangers – Property owners may not have to warn visitors about “open and obvious dangers,” such as a large and clearly visible hole in the ground.
- Intoxicated trespassers – Property owners may not be liable for premises liability accidents involving intoxicated trespassers with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) over the legal limit or who are under the influence of a controlled substance.
- Lack of notice – Property owners may not be at fault if they don’t have time to identify or fix a hazard on their premises.
- Comparative fault – Florida’s comparative negligence law reduces a property owner’s liability by the victim’s own responsibility for their injuries. For example, if a legal visitor ignored clearly marked warning signs or tape, they could be held partly to blame for the accident.
- Assumption of risk – Property owners might escape liability if they can show that the injured party knew of the dangers of the property and knowingly engaged in activities on it. This defense might apply if the injured person signed liability waivers to participate in extreme sports on vacation in Florida.
Legal Consequences of Breach of Duty of Care
The legal consequences of breaching the duty of care are that the property owner may be found financially responsible for a victim’s injuries and must pay for their medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other compensable losses.
Proving Duty of Care in a Court of Law
In a premises liability lawsuit, proving a duty of care involves using evidence to establish what kind of visitor to the property you were. For example, you could prove you were an invitee if you were shopping in a store when you got hurt. However, to successfully recover compensation, you must prove more than your legal status on the property. You must also show that:
- The property owner owed you a duty of care.
- They breached that duty through their actions or inactions.
- The breach directly caused your injuries.
- You suffered physical or financial harm as a result.
Proving liability is essential to recover compensation in any personal injury claim. An experienced premises liability lawyer can help you gather, organize, and present proof that the property owner’s negligence caused your injury.
Contact Our Pensacola Premises Liability Attorney to Learn More
Did you suffer an injury caused by a hazard on private property in Pensacola, Florida? Reach out to Cardoso Law, PLLC, for a free consultation with an experienced premises liability attorney. We’ll review your case, explain your legal options, and help you seek maximum compensation for what you’ve endured. Call or contact us today to get started.
