Additional Information:
There was loose carpeting and several other guests tripped over the carpet before me. Other diners and servers were witnesses. I’ve since had knee surgery and continue with medical treatment and therapy. Do I have a personal injury case against the restaurant and can I sue for damages as I will probably have permanent pain in my knee?
ANSWER:
Whether you can recover for the injuries that you suffered in your fall is going to depend more upon facts other than the loose carpeting alone. The fact that other guests tripped on the carpeting suggests that the condition existed long enough that the owner was or should have been aware of the dangerous carpeting and that he/she failed to correct it, which would permit your recovery. On the other hand, your awareness of the other guests tripping on the carpeting also suggests that you were aware of the defect but failed to use due care in traversing it, which may excuse the owner’s failure to remedy the condition because you assumed the risk and then failed to use due care in crossing the carpet. Such slip/trip-and-fall cases are very fact-specific and often turn on nuances regarding what you knew or saw before you fell or whether there were other available passageways that were safer. Gathering information from the witnesses about the defective condition, the timing of the earlier incidents, and any notice to the owner regarding the prior incidents would be important to evaluate your probability of success.
The Shrewsbury Slip and Fall Personal Injury attorneys at RJA Law serve clients who have been injured in an accident throughout Worcester County and Central Mass including the communities of Shrewsbury, Marlborough, Northborough, Westborough, Leominster, Fitchburg, Clinton, Auburn, Oxford, Spencer, Boylston, Holden, Paxton, Ware, Worcester, Millbury, Grafton, Rutland, Sutton, Webster, Sterling, Lancaster, West Boylston, Leicester, Hudson, Charlton, Southbridge, Bolton, Barre, Hubbardston, Sturbridge, Brimfield, Princeton, Gardner, Milford, Uxbridge, Upton, Lunenberg, Ashburnham, Northbridge, Ashby, Harvard, Westminster, Winchendon, Dudley, and Brookfield.
