How to Sue Publix if I’m Injured in a Slip and Fall

You can suffer severe injuries from a slip and fall in a Publix Supermarket. A broken hip or fractured skull may hospitalize you for weeks or months, straining you both physically and financially. If the insurance company is not negotiating in good faith for a fair settlement, seeking legal action against the grocery store may be necessary to recover your losses.

Preparing a slip and fall lawsuit requires an extensive knowledge of Florida’s laws. If you would like professional assistance, a Fort Lauderdale slip and fall accident lawyer from our law firm will help you navigate the legal system in pursuit of financial compensation. In general, the following information highlights important considerations when taking legal action against a party for your slip and fall injury.

Determine if Your Slip and Fall Injury Qualifies as a Premises Liability Claim

When you slipped, fell, and suffered an injury in Publix, those circumstances may have put your case under premises liability law. Per Florida Statutes § 768.0755, the owner or occupier of the store must take reasonable care to keep the store free of hazards or be responsible for the losses of the injured person.

For instance, if you slipped on fluid in the freezer aisle and were injured, you need to prove that the owner or occupier of that Publix store:

• Knew about the fluid on the floor, or
• Should have known about the wet floor because it was there for a period of time, or
• Should have known the fluid could be there because it appears regularly.

The owner or occupier should have taken action to clean up the dangerous condition or properly marked the hazardous condition until it could be cleaned up. If they did not do that and you were injured because of their negligence, you may have grounds for a lawsuit under premises liability law to recover your losses.

How to Establish Negligence in Your Slip and Fall Case

Finding proof of negligence is key to moving forward with your claim, and it requires investigative skills. Evidence may be uncovered through several avenues, such as:

• Eyewitness accounts
• Surveillance video footage
• Maintenance and inspection records
• Records of previous slip and fall accidents in the store

The evidence should illustrate the following four elements were present:

Duty of Care

The store owner or occupier had a duty of care to keep the shop in a reasonably safe condition and free of hazards. The level of liability the owner or occupier holds for your losses may depend on your status when on the premises:

• Invitees are in the store as shoppers, to do business with Publix
• Licensees are on the property legally but for their own purposes, such as a cleaning company representative selling their services to the store manager
• Trespassers are on the property without permission

Publix owes the most care to invitees and the least to trespassers.

Breach of Duty

The store owner or occupier failed to keep the store free of hazards or in a safe condition, as evidenced, for example, by the fluid left on the freezer aisle floor.

Causation

The breach of duty caused you to slip, fall, and suffer an injury. 

Damages

Your injury caused you to sustain losses.

Documenting Damages for Compensation After a Slip and Fall

In gathering documentation for your lawsuit, you must identify all of your losses and provide invoices or other statements that document the costs of each. Working with your medical team, a personal injury attorney, and an economic loss expert will help you account for all allowable damages. Typically, economic and non-economic damages, or subjective losses for accident victims can include:

• Current and long-term medical care
• Rehabilitation and physical therapy
• Transportation to medical appointments
• Adaptation of your home or vehicle to meet your needs
• Life-changing aspects of living with a permanent disability 
• Property loss
• Loss of income during recovery
• Diminished earning capacity
• Loss of future earnings
• Pain and suffering
• Loss of quality of life
• Mental anguish
• Change in relationships

Understanding Florida’s Legal Deadline for Filing a Lawsuit

Florida law generally provides plaintiffs with two years from the date of the accident to file a lawsuit, per Florida Statutes § 95.11. If you do not meet the statute of limitations, you may not be allowed to seek compensation through the courts. According to Florida Statutes § 95.051, there are exceptions to this deadline, when the time may be tolled or paused, but whether any apply to your case requires an expert opinion. 

The Legal Process for Pursuing Compensation After a Slip and Fall at Publix

A slip and fall at Publix that results in an injury is a type of premises liability claim, and a premises liability claim is a type of personal injury claim. If you would like to work with an attorney who has the knowledge required for your case, you should look for a personal injury lawyer experienced in premises liability law. The process follows these broad steps:

• As the plaintiff, you file a complaint and the defendant responds.
• Both sides then participate in discovery, requesting information and questioning each other and any witnesses to get a sense of the opponent’s case. Each side is deposed, during which questions are asked and answers provided under oath. Experts may be brought in to support claims made by the plaintiff and defendant.
• Either side may negotiate a settlement at any time, but if an agreement is not reached, you will go to trial.

Suing Publix for an injury sustained in a slip and fall accident is a complicated legal matter that would be difficult for anyone who has not practiced personal injury law.

Most personal injury attorneys in Florida offer free initial consultations. Find those who have a long history serving injured Floridians, excellent online reviews, and experience in civil litigation, then meet with them. Choose a legal team ready to dedicate themselves to helping you get the monetary judgment or verdict you deserve.

Contact Our Slip and Fall Attorneys to Learn About Your Legal Right to Sue Publix

Founding partners Jason and Debi Chalik personally handle every case and you pay no fees unless we recover compensation for you.The attorneys and staff at Chalik & Chalik Injury Lawyers are here to help you through this difficult time. We can review your claim and explain your legal options if you were injured in a slip and fall at Publix. 

Contact us to arrange your free case evaluation.