There’s nothing quite like going to Baskin Robbins for ice cream. Maybe you’re hot and need to cool down, or you’re taking your child for a special treat. It can be a wonderful experience — unless you or your child slips and falls, causing injuries.
Slips and falls can cause minor wounds or life-threatening injuries. In some cases, you can receive compensation for your injuries if you can prove that someone else’s negligence caused them. If you think that sounds difficult, that’s because it is.
Proving negligence is a complicated task, and it’s not easy to do without the assistance of a personal injury lawyer. Many injured accident victims turn to Cellino Law because of their experience and track record in recovering maximum damages for their clients.
What Is a Slip and Fall Accident?
Although you can slip and fall in your own home, that doesn’t constitute a slip and fall accident in legal terms. The incident must take place on someone else’s property to qualify for compensation, but even then, it’s not guaranteed.
You must show that the property owner or manager exhibited negligence that led to your injury before you can recover any damages. In the case of a Baskin Robbins slip and fall accident, the store personnel has the responsibility of making the store and the area in front of the shop safe for their customers. That’s their duty of care towards you. Any personal injury case includes negligence:
- Someone (the Baskin Robbins management) owed you a duty of care by providing safe conditions.
- That party failed to provide the duty of care due to negligence.
- You sustained injuries in an accident.
- Your accident and injuries directly resulted from that negligence.
It gets more complicated. You must prove that the Baskin Robbins manager either knew about or should have known about the hazardous condition that caused your slip and fall. Further, you need to prove that the manager had enough time but failed to correct the condition and didn’t place signs or otherwise keep customers away from it.
Proving when the manager found out about the hazard is crucial to your slip and fall claim. If a child dropped some ice cream on the floor inside the store and you immediately slipped on it and fell, the store employees didn’t have reasonable time to clean it up or place a barrier. In this situation, you may not qualify for compensation.
Say that you slip and fall due to water leaking on the floor from one of the ice cream coolers. If the manager knows that it leaks frequently but didn’t have it repaired or place signs warning customers of the potential fall hazard, you may receive damages.
What Can Cause Slip and Fall Accidents?
Many situations can result in slip and fall injuries. Some of the most common are:
- Poor lighting
- Uneven, broken or loose flooring
- Slippery floors
- Loose or broken stairs or handrails
- Ice and snow
- Potholes and damaged or uneven pavement or sidewalks
- Equipment or goods left in walkways
Although some wounds are minor, others are serious and can require extensive medical treatments and time away from work. Some victims never fully recover and face chronic pain and life-long medical treatments.
Your slip and fall lawyer can help you to prove that negligence caused your injuries and fight for reasonable compensation for your damages.
Don’t Insurance Companies Pay Without You Hiring an Attorney?
Unfortunately, insurance carriers don’t want to pay you for your damages. They may attempt to trick you into settling for a ridiculously low amount that they know isn’t sufficient to cover all of your expenses, pain and suffering. A competent attorney knows how to handle insurance company tactics and will aggressively negotiate with them to obtain maximum compensation for your damages.
Most cases settle without filing a lawsuit, but if the insurance company won’t compensate you fairly otherwise, your slip and fall lawyer from Cellino Law will take the matter to court.
What Should You Do After a Slip and Fall Accident?
You must gather solid evidence to prove negligence. Although investigators can search for evidence, you should document as much as you can at the accident site.
Use Your Smartphone
The chances are that the Baskin Robbins manager will clean up the cause of your accident immediately. You can preserve that evidence by taking pictures and videos of the entire accident scene. Include what caused your slip and fall, your injuries, witnesses and your recollection of what happened to make you fall.
Identify Witnesses
Other Baskin Robbins patrons may know how your accident happened even if they didn’t see it take place. Get their names and contact information along with their statements.
Notify Management
Don’t move from where you fell. Alert store employees and ask for a manager. They should make an incident report, and you can request a copy.
Ask for Surveillance Footage
Many stores have surveillance cameras, and one probably recorded your slip and fall. Ask for a copy of that video, and be sure to mention it to your attorney.
Get Medical Assistance
Even if paramedics aren’t dispatched to the store following your slip and fall, you need to seek medical attention as soon as you leave Baskin Robbins. That visit is crucial because it establishes your injuries, when you got them and how severe they are. Without a medical assessment, the Baskin Robbins management or owners can claim that you weren’t injured in their establishment, or that they aren’t serious.
Some injuries aren’t immediately apparent. This is another reason to seek a medical evaluation; you may have serious but unknown injuries. Left untreated, they may develop into life-threatening issues.
What Kinds of Damages Might You Receive?
Slip and fall injuries can drastically impact your life. You may qualify for compensation for these damages, among others:
- Medical treatments and related expenses
- Lost wages
- The cost of hiring caregivers
- Physical, mental and emotional pain and suffering
- Inconvenience
- The loss of enjoyment of life
- Permanent disfigurement or disability
Some of these damages have a price tag attached, such as medical bills. Others, like pain and suffering, aren’t tangible and therefore don’t have a specific monetary value. The compensation for these non-economic damages varies.
What If a Baskin Robbins Employee Slips and Falls?
Employees can qualify for damages also. Worker’s compensation insurance usually pays for lost wages and medical bills. At times, however, that coverage isn’t enough. Any slip and fall lawyer from Cellino Law can help injured employees in filing a worker’s comp claim and a separate slip and fall claim.
Why Choose Cellino Law?
If you sustained injuries in a slip and fall accident, gathering the right evidence quickly is crucial; you’ll want a reliable, competent, proven attorney at your side. A Cellino Law firm represented clients throughout the state of New York with cases similar to yours for over 60 years. They give every client personal attention and work hard to make sure you get the maximum compensation you’re entitled to.
Cellino Law has several offices in New York, making it easy to work with them. Someone can evaluate your claim for free 24/7. Send Cellino Law an online message or call (800) 555-5555 today so they can begin to work for you.