Is a Georgia Restaurant Liable for a Slip and Fall Injury?

Accidents can happen in many different kinds of businesses in the Macon area, including in restaurants when you are dining with friends or family, or picking up takeout food. Slips and falls in particular can be common in restaurants since there are frequently liquid spills in walking areas from food and drink spills. Restrooms can also have slick floors from recent cleanings, or in the area around the sink. When a slip and fall accident happens at a Macon restaurant and the person who slips and falls gets hurt, is the restaurant liable? Often, the restaurant will be responsible for damages under Georgia premises liability law, and our Macon premises liability lawyers can explain.

Georgia Code and Premises Liability for Slips and Falls 

Generally speaking, a restaurant owes a duty of care to customers under the Georgia Code: “Where an owner or occupier of land, by express or implied invitation, induces or leads others to come upon his premises for any lawful purpose, he is liable in damages to such persons for injuries caused by his failure to exercise ordinary care in keeping the premises and approaches safe.”

Georgia law distinguishes among parties on property classified as invitees, licensees, and trespassers. Invitees are owed the highest duty of care, and these are the people to whom the above language applies. Invitees are people who have been invited onto another party’s (typically business) property for dining, shopping, and to have services rendered. Licensees are people who are on another party’s property lawfully but for their benefit rather than for the owner’s benefit, such as a guest invited to someone’s home for a dinner. You might think of invitees as customers or clients, and licensees as friends or acquaintances. Trespassers are those who are on the property without permission and are owed the lowest duty of care by the property owner.

Proving Liability in a Restaurant Slip and Fall 

How can you prove that a restaurant is liable for injuries in a slip and fall accident? In addition to proving that the restaurant owed you a duty of care under premises liability law (which it did, if you were a customer, or even perusing the menu as a potential customer), you will need to show that you sustained an injury that resulted in damages, and that the restaurant knew or should have known about the dangerous condition that led to your accident.

Given that drinks and meals spill quite commonly in restaurants, it is usually the case a manager at a restaurant should have known — even if they did not have direct knowledge of a specific spill — that a liquid spill was possible in a particular area (such as the pathway from the kitchen to the tables) and should have ensured that an employee was checking for spills and cleaning up as quickly as possible. To find out more about gathering evidence to support your claim, you should talk with a lawyer who handles premises liability cases in Macon.

Contact Our Macon Premises Liability Attorneys for Assistance 

Were you injured at a local restaurant? You should get in touch with one of the experienced Macon premises liability lawyers at the Law Offices of Buzzell, Welsh & Hill to find out more about your eligibility for filing a premises liability lawsuit in Georgia.

Source:

law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2010/title-51/chapter-3/article-1/51-3-1