How to Prove Negligence in a Slip and Fall Case

Negligence is the most critical element of any Ontario slip and fall case. When a person slips or trips over dangerous conditions on another person’s property, the occupier or owner of the property can be held responsible legally if he or she was not careful enough to maintain himself or herself away from such dangers.

An successful slip and fall case depends on strong evidence, knowledge of the Occupiers’ Liability Act, and advice from a good slip and fall lawyer. Our Toronto personal injury lawyers at Grillo Law are extremely skilled in establishing negligence in cases of fall accidents and assisting victims in claiming compensation for injuries incurred.

Why and Where Slip and Fall Accidents Happen

Slip and fall incidents may occur anywhere, in a store, apartment complex, parking lot, or on public government-owned land. Most slip and fall incidents result from hazardous conditions that the property owner could not repair.

The most common slip and fall causes are:

• Wet floors or spilling liquids and no warning signs.
• Uneven or cracked pavement.
• Dull or insufficient light at stairways and corridors.
• Snow and ice left un-removed in a timely manner.
• Loose rugs or obstructed pathways.
• Broken stairs, tiles, or railings.

If these dangers are overlooked, hurt individuals can be subjected to anything from minor harm to severe harm, like spinal cord injury or traumatic brain injury.

Negligence arises where a property owner does not exercise reasonable care to make his property safe for visitors. In a slip and fall, this can be failure to repair a known defect, failure to keep in order regularly, or failure to provide warning to visitors of a hazard.

For your slip and fall attorney to establish negligence, he or she must demonstrate that:

• The owner of the property owed you a duty of care;
• That responsibility was violated by careless or reckless conduct (or inaction);
• The violation caused your slip and fall injury; and
• You incurred damages thereby.

These are the fundamental elements of all slip and fall cases of personal injury.

Understanding Negligence in Slip and Fall Cases

In Ontario, negligence is the foundation of every slip and fall claim. To succeed in a personal injury case, you must prove that your slip and fall accident occurred because a property owner or occupier failed to take reasonable care to keep their premises safe.

Negligence doesn’t always mean that the owner intentionally caused harm, it often means they ignored a dangerous condition that should have been fixed or properly marked. Under the Occupiers’ Liability Act, property owners, landlords, municipalities, and business operators all have a duty of care to ensure that visitors, customers, or tenants are not exposed to preventable risks.

Examples of negligent actions or inactions that commonly lead to slip and fall accidents include:

• Failing to clean spills or dry wet floors in a timely manner.
• Neglecting to post warning signs after mopping or repairs.
• Ignoring uneven surfaces, cracked sidewalks, or damaged flooring.
• Allowing snow and ice to accumulate on private or public property.
• Leaving poor lighting or inadequate lighting unaddressed in stairwells or hallways.
• Overlooking loose carpeting, clutter, or broken handrails.

When these hazards are not managed properly, injured persons may suffer fall injuries ranging from soft tissue injuries and fractures to spinal cord injuries or traumatic brain injury.

Four Elements of a Negligence Lawsuit

Damages

You must establish that you incurred measurable damages due to negligence on the part of the property owner.

They are:

• Medical bills and future medical treatment,
• Lost wages or impaired earning capacity,
• Pain and suffering or emotional distress,
• Out-of-pocket costs to recover.

The severity of your injuries, minor injuries or severe injuries, will dictate the amount of your slip and fall lawsuit settlement.

Your personal injury attorney will assist with determining fair compensation for your injuries.

Duty of Care

An owner or occupier owes a duty to make visitors safe and to keep his/her premises safe.

This includes taking steps to inspect for potential risks, report them and fix them in a timely fashion, and provide warnings of potential dangers.

Examples of failure of duty of care are:

• Failure by a shop owner to clean a spill;
• Failure by a landlord to respond to complaints that steps have been broken;
• Failure by a municipality to remove slippery sidewalks during winter.

In accordance with the Occupiers’ Liability Act of Ontario, such duty extends to every owner of property, whether the fall is on private property, public property, or a commercial property.

Breach of Duty

A breach of duty happens when the property owner fails to take reasonable care not to cause harm. For instance, if a spill was left unattended or a floor was swept but a notice was not placed indicating the danger, this might constitute a breach of duty.

Proving breach of duty usually involves such things as incident reports, maintenance records, and witness statements that prove the owner had actual or constructive notice of the dangerous situation prior to the fall.

Causation

Causation connects the breach of duty to the ensuing injuries in the fall case. Your personal injury attorney will need to establish that the hazardous condition caused your slip and fall injury directly and not for some other reason.

Proof like video and photo of the site, medical records, police or incident reports may demonstrate how your fall injury and subsequent medical treatment resulted from the careless party’s actions.

Establishing Liability in Slip and Fall Cases

To prevail in a slip and fall case, your injury lawyer must prove that the property owner was legally obligated to keep safe conditions and that their negligence caused your fall injury.

To establish liability most often involves showing that:

• owner of property owed you a duty of care.
• The owner breached that duty by failing to correct or warn of hazards.
• The breach of duty was the direct cause of your slip and fall injury.
• You suffered measurable damages, such as medical expenses or lost wages.

Your personal injury lawyer will review all evidence available, including maintenance reports, accident reports, and witness testimony, in an effort to determine if the owner’s negligence created a condition that was hazardous and caused the fall accident.

Evidence You Need to Support Your Slip and Fall Claim

Strong, verifiable evidence is required to prove negligence within a slip and fall claim. Without supporting documentation, an insurance company may try to disallow or reduce your settlement.

Your personal injury lawyer will gather and maintain the following evidence to support a winning claim:

Videos and Photos of the Scene

Visual evidence is among the most compelling tools in a slip and fall case. Take videos or photos of the accident scene as quickly as possible, revealing uneven floors, wet spots, or inadequate lighting.

These photos help to prove that the dangerous situation existed at the time of the fall and that the owner failed to use reasonable care.

Medical Records

Your medical records link the occurrence of falling with bodily injuries in a direct manner. Document all medical treatment, hospitalization, therapy, and medication in detail.

These records help to prove causation and substantiate the expenses of medical treatment, rehabilitation, and future care.

Incident Reports

If your slip and fall accident occurred on commercial property or public property, request a copy of the incident report.

This report contains significant information, such as the time and date of your fall accident, and what caused it, and serves as an official document in support of your slip and fall claim.

Witness Statements

Eyewitness testimonies corroborate your argument by determining what occurred before and after the fall incident. Testimonies from witnesses can affirm if the danger was in view, warning signs were posted, or workers did not respond fast enough.

Maintenance & Inspection Records

Determining owner negligence generally depends on maintenance and inspection records. Maintenance reports can indicate if the owner regularly inspected the premises, issued reports of hazards, or ignored previous complaints.

Failure to inspect or premature maintenance constitutes a failure of duty, to support your fall claim.

Weather Reports

Weather reports are critical in instances of slip and fall on exterior walkways. They enable us to establish if the municipality or property owner exercised reasonable efforts to clear snow, ice, or water in a timely manner.

Inability to act under hazardous conditions could be used to determine negligence.

Financial Impact of the Injury

Apart from pain and suffering, most slip and fall accidents also cause substantial economic losses. Victims can sustain high medical bills, loss of income, and long-term care.

Common economic losses include:

• Medical expenses and rehabilitation fees.
• Lost wages and reduced earning capacity.
• Self-pay costs for mobility aids or transportation.
• Pain and suffering and emotional distress.

A skilled personal injury lawyer at Grillo Law will quantify the value of your personal injury claim, including all your short-term and long-term damages, in your settlement demand.

Contact Our Slip and Fall Accident Lawyer for Legal Assistance

If you or a family member has been injured in a slip and fall accident on another person’s premises, call Grillo Law today.

Our Toronto slip and fall lawyers have spent decades handling slip and fall cases and proving negligence in favour of property owners throughout Ontario.

We’ll help you:

• Obtain evidence and keep vital records,
• Prove liability and cause,
• Deal with the insurer on your behalf,
• Claim fair compensation for your medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

Call Grillo Law today to schedule a free consultation with one of our lawyers to discuss your slip and fall case and learn how we can help you pursue justice and financial compensation.