Vacations are supposed to be a time of fun, excitement, and most of all, relaxation. When you’re in a hotel, you expect hotel management to look out for your welfare. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. One of the biggest risks at a hotel is a slip-and-fall accident.
One Texas woman has been awarded more than $4.9 million for a slip-and-fall injury she suffered outside of a Marriott. She fell on an icy sidewalk in front of the hotel and broke her ankle. Her lawsuit claimed that the hotel was negligent in that it failed to warn guests about the dangerous conditions. She had four independent experts testify that the sidewalk where she fell was indeed unreasonably dangerous.
Cases like the one above bring about the question: if I suffer a slip-and-fall at a hotel, can I sue the hotel? The answer is, it depends. Everything is based on the circumstances surrounding your injury.
How Most Hotel Slip-and-Fall Injuries Happen
The most common slip-and-falls at a hotel involve slipping on a wet pool deck, an icy pathway, or a wet bathroom floor. Slips can also occur in other areas of the hotel, such as a gift shop, a restaurant, or hallway.
Here are some other dangers that can lead to injury:
- Spills in the lobby or corridor
- Leaks in hotel room
- Leaks in the bathroom
- Slippery areas around the pool
- Lack of mats
- Badly designed staircase
- Broken stairs
- Missing handrails
- Worn carpeting
- Uneven flooring
- Cracked flooring
Common injuries include broken bones, head and neck injuries, shoulder injuries, facial injuries, hip fractures, back issues, knee problems, and hand and wrist injuries.
Who Is Responsible?
It is a hotel’s duty to keep its guests reasonably safe. They have to maintain the grounds and make sure the conditions aren’t likely to cause an injury. If they notice any potentially hazardous conditions, they must fix them. For example, if they see a liquid spill on the floor, they need to quickly clean it up. Or if they notice a loose floor tile, they need to fix it before it can pose a danger to guests.
When it comes to responsibility for an injury, the words “reasonable” and “foreseeable” make up a huge part of any claim. Yes, it is a hotel’s duty to make sure you aren’t harmed on their premises, but not every single injury is their responsibility. They only have to ensure that you are protected from harm that could reasonably be foreseen. That means the hotel’s management knows or should know about a potential danger, yet fails to act to correct it. When their lack of action results in an injury, they can be held liable, no matter “why” they didn’t fix it.
You must be able to prove negligence in order to hold a hotel or resort liable. You will have to prove that employees were aware of the hazardous conditions and chose not to fix them. For example, if someone spilled soap on the bathroom floor and you slipped and fell moments later, the resort may not be liable, since it didn’t have a chance to correct the situation. However, if the soap had been there for nearly an hour, you might have a case.
What to Do After a Hotel Slip-and-Fall
When it comes to slip-and-fall accidents, it’s important to document your injuries as well as the area in which they took place. If you have any witnesses, gather and save their contact information.
If you were injured in a hotel slip-and-fall accident, it is very important to have a good NYC slip-and-fall lawyer.
A hotel has a duty of care toward you. If they breached this duty of care, then you deserve to be compensated. You might have a multitude of medical expenses, like an emergency room visit, ambulance fees, X-ray fees, and more. You might be unable to work, resulting in a loss of wages. You might undergo pain and suffering, physical as well as emotional. Don’t fight this battle alone—call The Case Handler at 800-223-2814 for a free consultation. We’ll get started on getting your life back on track.
