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Plaintiff Unable to Prove Negligence in Slip and Fall Case

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When a person is injured in a place of business it is important that they notify that place of business immediately and in a timely manner. Failure to notify the management can cause the management to doubt the situation existed. It is also a matter for dispute in court. In one case that occurred at a movie theatre on Harkness Avenue in Brooklyn, New York is an example of this type of failure. A couple went to the movies at that theatre. At some point during the film, the woman left the man watching the movie and went out to the lobby to get some popcorn.

As she traversed the lobby, she slipped on a sticky liquid on the floor that was presumably some type of soda. She slip and fallfractured her wrist. She did not notify the movie theatre employees until the following day. She got up and returned to her seat. As she and her date were leaving that night, she pointed out the area to him and stated that she had fallen there. He told her that he had nearly fallen there himself at one point.

The following day, her wrist was hurting her and she went to a doctor for treatment. She was told that she had fractured her wrist. A New York Injury Lawyer said he and her date returned to the movie theatre that day and notified the assistant manager that the accident had happened. He purportedly told them that he had noticed the spill the night before and instructed the employees to clean it up, but that no one had listened to him. The spill had gone uncorrected. The woman filed a lawsuit against the theatre for personal injury that resulted from her fall on their property. However, in her own statement to the court, the woman stated that she had not seen the liquid on the floor prior to her fall and that to her knowledge it had not been reported to management prior to her accident. She stated that she had collected herself after the incident and returned to the movie. She had finished watching the movie and returned to her home. She stated that she waited until the following day to file the accident report with the theatre.

The Theatre manager testified that it was her practice to walk the theatres grounds on a daily morning inspection for any hazards. Any hazardous situations are handled immediately. If there are any wet or sticky spots that are noticed on her walk, she takes immediate action to ensure that maintenance is notified to come clean it up or fix the problem. She stated that any wet areas are mopped up and immediately dried. A Westchester County Personal Injury Lawyer said the attorney for the movie theatre filed a motion for summary judgment in that in his opinion, the complainant, the woman who fell, did not make her case that there was anything that the theatre staff could have done to correct the spill before she fell on it.

In her own statement, she acknowledged that she did not know how long the fluid had been on the lobby floor. A Suffolk County Personal Injury Lawyer said she only noticed it herself after she fell on it. One of the primary responsibilities of a complainant who files a case of personal injury is that they have to show some form of negligence on the part of the defendant. In this case, the woman was not able to show that the staff had been negligent, mainly, because she waited until the following day to report her injury. It is conceivable that had she reported her injury immediately that this case would have been determined in a different fashion. There would have been some evidence of the spill and witnesses to the incident that would have made the difference in this case.

Stephen Bilkis & Associates has New York Personal Injury Lawyers throughout New York and the Metropolitan area. If you were injured due to the negligence of others call immediately. New York slip and fall Attorneys can provide you the support that you need.

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