Slip and fall in supermarket settles for $75,000 despite there being a wet floor sign
Author: Attorney Daniel Villalobos
Client Slips and Falls In The Frozen Food Isle
Our client, a mid-50’s grandmother of two, was walking in her local supermarket in Sunrise, Florida. She entered into the isle of the frozen foods. As she turned into the isle she noticed a bright yellow “Caution: Wet Floor” sign which was located in the middle of the isle. She did not pay much mind to this wet floor sign since it was at least 30-40 feet away. Her subconscious mind kept a mental note of where it was and she opened and closed the freezer doors for foods that were located far away from the wet floor sign. She walked closer to the wet floor sign but was still approximately 10 feet away. As she walked closer she was looking up and at the freezers for food that she wished to purchase. Suddenly and without warning she slipped and fell on water that was directly underneath her, and approximately 10 feet away from the wet floor sign. Dazed and confused she laid on the floor waiting for help to arrive.
Client Makes A Bad Decision And Gives A Statement To The Supermarket Employees
Several employees showed up and helped her off the ground. They showed her the wet floor sign and asked why she did not see it. Our client made the biggest error of any personal injury case—she began giving a statement to the employees of the supermarket. I assure you that when the employees were asking her questions, they did not care about her well-being they were trying to get her to say things that could hurt her case and protect the supermarket. This is evidenced by the fact that after our client gave a statement and admitted to seeing the wet floor sign, the staff asked the client to sign an incident report that acknowledged the existence of the wet floor sign. Our client unfortunately signed this report.
Dell and Schaefer Negotiate A Settlement
Days after the fall, our client was in agonizing pain and sought medical care. The insurance company for the supermarket called to inform her that they were denying the claim since there was a wet floor sign that she admitted to seeing prior to the fall. At this point she hired the Sunrise Slip and Fall Attorneys Dell and Schaefer. Our firm believed that the supermarket was 100% at fault in this accident despite their use of a wet floor sign. Our firm filed a bodily injury claim with the insurance company. We sought monetary compensation for bodily injury, pain and suffering, loss of consortium, disfigurement, disability, mental anguish, past and future medical expenses, lost wages, and impairment of ability to earn future wages. The insurance company denied the claim alleging they took the proper precautions by placing a wet floor sign in the vicinity. Our firm disagreed. We argued it was their fault for our client’s fall since the wet floor sign was not placed at the beginning of the water. Rather the sign was placed in the middle. We argued that the reasonable person would believe that a wet floor sign means there is a wet floor at the location of the sign, not 10 feet away. We argued there should have been two wet floor signs, one at the beginning of where the floor was wet and one at the end. We concluded that by simply putting one wet floor sign in the middle of the water, they actually informed unsuspecting victims that the water was only in the vicinity of the wet floor sign which did not put our client on notice.
Our argument obviously scared the insurance company since the case resolved for $75,000 without the need to go to trial. The moral of this story is to never speak to an insurance company or agents of the supermarket without first speaking to an attorney. Our client’s statement to the insurance company certainly did not help her case, fortunately it did not ruin her case, but it absolutely made our job harder. Call us for a free consultation. We do not charge a cost or fee unless we recover money for you.
