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Avoiding Hard Landings

We take a look at real slip-and-fall cases in an effort to explain how dynamic and fact-specific they can be.

By Mike H. Bassett | Updated on January 31, 2010
Imagine that your insured owns a grocery store. One rainy afternoon, during an exceptionally heavy downpour, a customer slips and falls in the store foyer. There are no mats or “wet floor” signs anywhere to be seen. The customer suffers two herniated discs and demands $50,000 to settle the case. What do you do?

Now picture one of the insured’s employees stocking shelves in the condiment aisle. One of the family-sized jars slips from his hands and shatters on the floor, covering the entire aisle in broken glass and applesauce. The resourceful employee scoops up as much of the sticky mess as he can, and asks a coworker to bring a mop and a “wet floor” sign from the back while he warns customers of the danger. Just then, a woman rounds the corner and takes an immediate dive on the applesauce. She breaks her back in two places, and her attorney later demands $365,000. What do you do?

Better still, imagine your insured is being sued by a man who claims he slipped and fell on some water by the celery in the produce section. Your insured’s employee says she was in the produce section the entire time and never saw him fall. However, the man produces a witness who heard a “thud” and turned to see him lying in a pool of water — you guessed it — next to the celery. He suffers a torn rotator cuff and demands $175,000 at trial. What do you do?

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