When an older loved one suffers an injury, you may be wondering when can you sue for a slip and fall of a senior? All too common these days, falls by seniors can lead to debilitating injuries and, many times, chronic pain. The time needed to heal is longer than for younger adults and can decrease an older person’s quality of life.

The last thing you or loved ones want to experience heading into your golden years is a devastating injury as a result of another’s failure to act appropriately. Many slips and falls are preventable when required safety measures are put in place. Yet, not all property owners, managers, or staff act responsibly, and, as a result, injuries often occur.

If you or your older loved one suffers an injury due to the negligence of another, including those at a nursing home or assisted living facility, you might have a personal injury lawsuit. Contact Steven Heisler here at National Injured Senior Law Center by calling (410) 625-4878 to schedule a risk-free case assessment.

Can You Sue for a Slip and Fall of a Senior?

While slip and falls are dangerous for anyone involved, seniors are particularly susceptible to severe injuries and long recovery times. As a result, medical bills pile up, and quality of life suffers. Death may even occur in some instances, and you may be left wondering what to do. Can you file a lawsuit?

To answer the question can you sue for a slip and fall of a senior will first require a thorough review of the surrounding circumstances. Where did the fall occur? Was it in a grocery store, a doctor’s office, or a senior living facility?

While causes for a slip and fall are many, such as raised or uneven surfaces or wet floors, not all are simple accidents. This is where premises liability and negligence enter a case, and when you can sue for that slip and fall of a senior.

Premises liability law requires that a property owner maintain a safe environment. Failing to do so can make them liable for injuries suffered by others, including seniors. This negligence on the part of the property’s owner will be at the heart of your lawsuit. You may even possibly be able to sue more than one party, depending upon the circumstances.

Filing a senior injury lawsuit can help you recover medical expenses as well as future care costs, which can be significant for older adults. Knowing where to turn for compassionate legal advice is essential for moving forward.

With our available experienced personal injury attorney, we can provide help for injured seniors and their families in times of need. Regardless of your age or that of an injured loved one, we will seek the fair and just compensation you deserve. 

Are Nursing Homes Liable for Falls?

Nursing homes often are the site of falls by elderly patients in their care. Many times, these falls are due to a negligence factor by the owner, management, or staff.

If you’re wondering are nursing homes liable for falls then, the answer is most often yes. These types of slips and falls come under premises liability law and also what’s known as medical negligence theory.

Seniors in nursing homes most likely have health conditions and mobility issues that require constant monitoring and assistance with daily activities. These conditions can range anywhere from dizziness to hip injuries, requiring assistance at all times of day and night.

Both OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and The Nursing Home Reform Act of 1987 recognize the need for legally enforceable safety measures for senior residents. All too often, however, these are disregarded or neglected in some way, and you will need to file a lawsuit to obtain justice.

Accidents on the nursing home premises can result from any of the following:

• failure to adequately assess a patient for fall risks
• inadequate monitoring of the patient
• equipment malfunction, such as a faulty bed rail
• improper or unsafe positioning of patient 
• limited or poor training of employees in the care of patient
• inattentive staff
• improper transfer methods.

Many other causes may also be involved.

Nursing homes are long-term care facilities, and many are short-term rehabilitative centers as well. Regardless of which your beloved senior is a part of, you may have a lawsuit if they fall and sustain injuries.

Here at our National Injured Senior Law Center, we work with those suffering falls due to premises issues such as wet floors, and also negligence on the part of the nursing home’s failure to protect residents and guard against any slip and fall risks. Contact our nursing home attorney at (855) 463-2306 to discuss your case and find out more.

Can You Sue an Assisted Living Facility for a Fall?

Assisted living facilities are becoming more and more popular as the population ages and needs assistance with day-to-day living. These facilities still allow for some independence while providing staff to assist with various medical and daily needs and activities.

Although different from a full-scale nursing home, safety for residents is a top priority. Unfortunately, slip and fall accidents still happen, and serious injuries can occur. Often times, the causes closely resemble many of those found in nursing home slips and falls but may also be unique to the assisted role of the facility.

So, can you sue an assisted living facility for a fall of a senior? Yes. Since the facility is legally liable for putting in place safety measures for residents, you can sue if injury occurs where liability can be established.

An assisted living facility can be found liable for a fall, for example, if any of the following occur:

• public areas cluttered with debris or obstacles
• slippery or wet floors in private and public bathrooms and other areas
• malfunctioning or non-existent electronic alert systems
• failure to install adequate handrails in walkways
• understaffed, leaving too few employees on duty to monitor all residents
• failure at identifying, developing, and implementing specific fall prevention strategies
• inadequate staff training.

There are also other potential causes, so consult with our attorney to determine the circumstances surrounding your loved one’s fall and what you can do.

Established standards of care must be followed by the staff, managers, and owners of assisted living facilities. When this doesn’t happen and a senior suffers a fall and injury, you need to consider filing a lawsuit.

Can You Sue a Store After a Fall?

Large grocery and housewares stores such as Walmart, Costco, Target, and Wegman’s can be accidents waiting to happen. If the store does not take steps to prevent accidents — such as by immediately cleaning up breakage and spills and keeping aisles cleared of merchandise and obstacles — it is easy for an elderly customer to suffer a fall. If our attorneys can show that a store was negligent and responsible for the fall that caused a senior’s injuries, we can sue the store for the damages received.

To prove liability legally, we would have to show that the store was liable because:

• Duty: It had a duty of care to keep its premises safe for customers.
• Breach: It breached this duty through actions or failure to act.
• Cause: This breach caused the fall that injured you.
• Damages: You suffered damages, such as physical and emotional injuries and medical costs, as a result.

Big brand stores often have recordings of accidents on their security camera footage, and there may be eyewitnesses to your accident as well. To win your case, our attorneys would investigate what happened by examining all evidence, such as photos and videos from security cameras and police and medical reports, interviewing witnesses and first responders, and consulting experts to testify as to how your injuries negatively impact your life and the type of care you may need into the future.

Slip and Fall Cases and Large, Brand Name Chain Stores

Can You Sue Walmart If You Fall in Their Store?

If you are injured in a fall in Walmart, you can sue if the accident was due to their negligence or fault. After a fall, the store’s insurance company, a customer service representative, or store manager of the store may have you fill out an accident report and offer you a settlement. However, Walmart and their insurers are interested in their own bottom line and will try to get you to settle for less. Our personal injury lawyers can sue for the full amount of damages, including all your medical rehabilitation and care expenses as well as restitution for your non-economic damages such as pain and suffering.

If You Fall In Costco, Can You Sue?

You can sue Costco for any injuries sustained in a fall in or around their store if negligence was the cause. Costco is responsible for ensuring shopper safety inside the store, eating areas, bathrooms, and their parking lots and sidewalks. Costco has a store policy that states that managers and employees must do everything possible to ensure customer safety, and if they are negligent and fail to correct hazards, they may be held liable for accidents and injuries.

Common hazards that can be found in Costco include:

• Spilled water and paper towels surrounding the hand-wash or toilet area
• Spills of drinks or food on the floor from food vendors and food courts
• Leakage of refrigerators and freezers that malfunction in grocery areas
• Slips and falls at entrances and exits in bad weather
• Slipping on ice or having other fall accidents in parking lots and sidewalks.

Can You Sue Target for a Fall in Their Store?

Target has a duty of care to provide its consumers with a safe shopping experience by maintaining their shopping facilities and keeping them free from hazards. Super Targets usually have grocery sections and restaurant areas where food and liquids can spill, as well as bathroom areas where water can splash on floors. You can sue Target if you fell in or around their store for the following reasons:

• Target created a condition that caused you to fall by doing things such as leaving piles of merchandise in an aisle, or by failing to do certain things, such as failing to immediately clean up spilled liquids or food.
• Target knew or should have known of a hazard that might cause someone to fall and did not do enough (or anything at all) to prevent the hazard.

If You Fall in Wegman’s Can You Sue?

Wegman’s is one of the largest supermarket chains on the East Coast, and with different foods, liquids, and large groups of people in a small space, there are many potential slip and fall hazards.

You can sue Wegman’s if you were injured in a fall because the store did not take care of hazards such as:

• Food products spilled on the floor and not cleaned up promptly by staff
• Mopped floors where no warning sign is posted
• Weather hazards from rain, snow, or ice that create slippery conditions at the entrance or in the parking lot
• Product displays or merchandise left in narrow aisles
• Broken refrigeration unit or freezer that causes water on the floor
• Broken or uneven floors or loose rugs.

All big box stores are subject to the same requirements for eliminating hazards that can cause injuries. Stores and their insurers have high-powered lawyers on their side who will try to make the accident seem as if it was your fault or attempt to get you to settle for as little as possible. At the National Injured Senior Law Center, we are aware of the tactics they use and will fight to get you justice and the optimum settlement you deserve.

What Is Involved When Suing for Elderly Slip and Fall?

When suing for elderly slip and fall, you’ll need to work closely with our attorney to determine the facts of the case.

Proving premises liability for unsafe conditions and the occurrence of any medical negligence will be necessary to be successful in winning your slip and fall case. The first step for this is to determine the parties liable, including a nursing home, assisted living facility, or any others.

Once the parties are identified, it’s time to prove whether or not negligence is involved. Were these parties negligent, and did that negligence lead to the slip and fall suffered by the elderly person?

In order to prove negligence, we will gather evidence to show the following:

• The nursing home, assisted living facility, or other entity had a duty of care to you or your loved one. 
• The responsible parties breached their duty of care.
• The breach of that duty of care caused the elderly person’s injury.
• Harm did indeed occur to the elderly person.

Determining liability and negligence can be a complicated process. This is where an experienced senior injury attorney can excel, providing you with the confident legal guidance needed during a time such as this.

Each case is unique and should be treated that way. Damages included in your lawsuit are calculated specifically to your circumstances and may include any of the following:

• medical expenses, both past and future
• rehabilitation and physical therapy expenses
• pain and suffering
• physical impairments
• permanent disfigurement
• wrongful death.

In slip and fall cases of younger persons, damages for lost wages and diminished earning capacity are sought. This is not the case for elderly persons. However, higher amounts will be sought for medical care, because the elderly are more susceptible to severe injury during a fall and experience longer recovery times.