Slip and Fall Accidents in a Restaurant

The Law Offices Cytryn & Velazquez, P.A. has handled several hundred cases where slip and fall accidents occur on restaurant floors. Most incidents can occur at the “front of house”, which is where all visitors and employees walk around to be seated or leave, serve or make the food, and use the restroom.

If you are seriously injured in any kind of restaurant incident, contact the Law Offices Cytryn & Velazquez, P.A. online today.

What Do You Do If You Have a Slip and Fall Accident at a Restaurant?

1. If you’re injured, call for paramedics. Make sure to document your injury and what happened. Even though you may feel embarrassed after a fall, if you’re feeling pain and are having difficulty, it’s best to be transported to the hospital and get checked out. This will allow you to document exactly what type of injuries you have sustained in the accident, and the paramedics can prepare a report at the scene which may end up helping you in your accident case.
2. If you’re able or with someone that is able, take pictures of where you fell. It’s important to document anything on the floor, skid marks, liquid, etc. where you slipped and fell. As they say, “a pictures worth a thousand words”. Make sure you or whomever you are with takes not one or two pictures, but as many as you can! Remember that these photos on your phone are free. No matter what kind of accident you are in whether it be a slip and fall or car accident it’s important to take as many pictures as you can.
3. When an incident occurs, employees are often asked to fill out an incident report. Most of the time, it’s a manager or a security person. You don’t have to sign that incident report. The odds are that you are not going to get a copy of it. It’s called work product. The report goes to the restaurant’s insurance company, and even if you file a lawsuit, the judges in 95% of the cases will not order that the incident report be produced to you. In this case, you have no obligation to sign anything, and you shouldn’t because you don’t know what they have written in the final report. Plus, if you are seriously hurt, you might be in too much pain to digest what you are signing and unable to fully comprehend what is in the report.
4. After the incident, when their insurance company calls you to get more information, you should call a Board-Certified Civil Trial Lawyer specializing in slip and trip and fall cases before speaking with them. Let the law firm do the work for you and protect you from saying or doing the wrong thing. Do not give a statement to the insurance company or to the place where you fell. They are not going to help you. You are not likely to get what you are legally entitled to unless you contact a Board-Certified Civil Trial Lawyer. Many of these lawyers are specially trained in these types of accident and injury cases. 

Where Do Most Accidents Occur in a Restaurant?

The most common places for slip and fall accidents to occur in the restaurant are anywhere where the servers are walking. These pathways may endure dropped food or spilled drinks producing liquid or obstacles on the floor. The worst-case scenarios are when servers spill something like salad dressing, which is oily and creates an even more dangerous surface. Also, when using trays to carry out the food, any beverages on the tray can overflow and fall onto the floor creating a hazardous condition. It’s even worse when drinks are carried out without a tray because then there is nothing preventing liquid from spilling onto the floor.

Accidents can also occur in the bathroom as a result of inadequate floor surfaces, or the setup of the bathroom. They can occur because, for example, the soap dispenser is set so that the soap drips onto the floor instead of over the sink, or instead of some other type of methodology that prevents it from going onto the floor. Sometimes when you walk into restaurant bathrooms, you’ll see on the back of the restaurant door a maintenance schedule. Often times, these maintenance schedules are ignored because nobody’s cleaning the bathroom. Lack of continuous cleaning could leave bathroom floors wet, and people could slip and fall. If you suffer a fall in the bathroom, remember to take a picture of the back of the door as well. These maintenance schedules could indicate that they have not been following a cleaning schedule, lack due diligence of signing the form, or that there hasn’t been a cleaning schedule at all.

We have recovered millions for our clients injured in slip and fall and trip and fall cases. Give us a call today at (954) 833-1440 for a free consultation.

Many restaurants use deep fryers to cook French fries and other items. How does this effect an accident? The employees go in and out of the kitchen carrying oil, grease, and trash on the bottom of their shoes into the “front of house”, which is the place where customers walk. As the days go by, the floors can get more and more slippery from liquid, oil, grease, and food especially if the floors are a smooth surface that is not non-skid. Generally, most restaurant do not have floor surfaces that are non-slip. Unless you are wearing non-slip shoes, you are at risk of an accident. If an individual is wearing high heels, especially spiked heels, they are more at risk of slipping and falling. Restaurant employees will admit that individuals wearing high heels will fall more than somebody who is wearing non-heeled shoes.

If the restaurant has a problem with previous slip and falls, they must do something reasonable to prevent those slip and falls from happening. Years ago, a slip and fall expert by the name of William English, now diseased, wrote a book about slip and falls. One of the things he pointed out was that he worked for Marriot corporation, and they had a slip and fall problem back in the ‘70s or ‘80s. This caused them to put carpeting in all their restaurants and it completely resolved their slip and fall problem. However, restaurants choose not to use carpet due to high maintenance costs, more work required for cleaning, and they like the acoustics that comes from hardwood floors in a crowded restaurant.

Which Restaurants Have the Most Accidents?

• Outback Steakhouse and other restaurants that don’t have carpeting on their floors
• Most large restaurant chains including but not limited to TGI Friday’s and Tap 42
• Many small restaurants

What Types of Injuries Can Occur from Accidents in a Restaurant?

• Back and neck injuries which can result in surgery
• Broken hips
• Fractured pelvises and other bones in the body
• Death

Don’t wait to call the Law Offices Cytryn & Velazquez, P.A. Waiting can result in a fatal mistake like giving a statement before speaking with a Board-Certified Civil Trial Lawyer, or not taking enough pictures to prove who is at fault in an accident. Many times, juries find the person who was injured somewhat at fault, sometimes substantially reducing the verdict and ultimate judgment. You need the right representation to win your case.

We handle cases all over Florida, so let us make sure you get the compensation you deserve. Call us at (954) 833-1440 or fill out a form for your free consultation today.