Slip And Fall..

[Kaley]

I live in Oregon. Can you give me someone near to Salem that I could get in contact with. I unfortunetly do not have the jug any longer. There was nothing we did, other than hand it to the cahsier to scan, and then since she didn't seem to be to enthused that day to help load the shopping cart like some do, my husband put everything back in the cart. Would that leave us responsible, just cause he was the one putting everything in the cart? We didn't expect for anything to break open.

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Followup To

- My husband and I were recently shoppping at a local Big-Box store, where I slipped and fell causing a broken arm and a bruised leg. My husband was pushing our shopping cart out of the store.. he waited towards the front for me. I was finishing at the register with my daughter who was in her stroller. As we headed out, my husband started for the lobby. Nearing the lobby I started to slip and in trying to make sure my daughter didn't land on her side in the stroller, I landed straight on my right wrist. The water had streamed from our shopping cart where we had just purchased 2 1/5 gallon jugs of water.(The type that sits on the shelf with the spout at the bottom for dispensing). Who is responsible here? We didn't know it was leaking therefore we had no knowledge of the water on the floor. Had I not been pushing my daughter I may or may not have seen it. What can we do in this situation as far as getting assistance to cover the medical bills?

[Mazablaska]

- Hi,

Thank you for the opportunity to answer your question.  There are a lot of issues concerning liability to consider here.  You should see a personal injury lawyer immediately.  Obviously, the water bottle is not supposed to leak.  Some of the questions are: Why did the water bottle leak? Who caused it to leak? Did the bottle leak because of a manufacturing defect, shipping, improper handling in the store, or because of your improper handling(I assume it was not because of you)?  Was the store negligent in failing to notice that the bottle was leaking?

You should keep the bottle.  Since you said that you slipped on a puddle of water while walking out of the store, I am wondering if something happened to the bottle during the period of time that you were at the cash register because I would assume that a substantial amount of water would have leaked out prior to that.  Consequently, I am wondering if the bottle was either punctured or if the cap became loose when at the cash register.

As long as the bottle did not leak because of your fault, there is also another theory of liability that I and most other lawyers would allege in a complaint.  That is res ipsa loquitur which means "the thing speaks for itself".  This theory would apply because water bottles are not supposed to leak on their own, without an intervening cause.

If you are in California, Georgia, Indiana, New Jersey, New Orleans, New York, Texas, Virginia, or West Virginia, please let me know and I will be able to refer you to a personal injury lawyer.  If you are in another state and do not know who to call, let me know and I will help you.

My legal malpractice company and AllExperts.com require that I advise you that the above is not legal advice for you.  It is only my opinion as it would apply to myself if I were in this position.  For legal advice, you should formally contact a lawyer.

I hope I have been of some help.  If you have any further questions, feel free to let me know.  I would like to thank you for requesting my advice and I would appreciate your leaving a comment for me at AllExperts.com.  If you feel my answer was worthwhile, please check the box to nominate me for volunteer of the month.

Thank you very much, good luck and be sure to check out my web site www.HURT911.org which has a lot of useful information for Accident & Injury research.

Philip L. Franckel, Esq.

Former Member Board of Directors,

New York State Trial Lawyers Association

telephone: 516-621-9399

email: [email protected]

website: the CENTER FOR INJURY ASSISTANCE® at www.HURT911.org

[Rioghbhardan]

It would be useful to have the jug to show why it leaked and that it was not your fault.  Obviously, the store will try to say that it was your fault.  Without the jug, a lawyer will have to work with statements which were made at the time, records and testimony.  

If your husband put the water into the shopping cart, that does not make you responsible.  The question to be determined and proved is why the jug leaked, who caused it to leak and if it was caused to leak by someone other than you or your husband before you slipped in the water, was the store negligent in failing to take it off-the-shelf or negligent in actually causing leak at the cash register.

I do not know anyone in Oregon, but I can tell you how I would find a personal injury lawyer.

My malpractice insurance carrier says I should refer you to your local Bar Association for a personal injury attorney, however, if I were looking for an attorney for your type of case, I would make sure that I retained an attorney who limits his/her practice to personal injury.  I would look for a personal injury attorney at www.atla.org and call an attorney who is a Life, President, or Sustaining member.  Click on Find Lawyer;  Click on I Agree to All Terms; Enter your state in the state field;  Enter the word "life member" or "president member" or "sustaining member";  Then click on Find ATLA Member.