Premises liability or negligent security accidents happen when a property owner fails to maintain their property in a way that protects their patrons. Have you been injured because a property owner did not maintain their property? Negligent security cases may involve inadequate locks on an apartment door, blocked or unmarked exits, inadequate lighting in a parking lot, failure to run background checks on employees, failure to hire an adequate number of security guards or even poorly trained security guards. The reality is often that there were red flags that went unheeded before the accident. Often property owners were too concerned about profits instead of safety. In short, these property (premises) owners were negligent (and therefore liable or responsible). The owners, managers or those in charge often knew that something was not safe or required maintenance, repair or supervision, but failed to take the necessary actions to fix it. Instead, they waited until someone got hurt.
What Is Premises Liability?
Barnes & Cohen wins a $2.4 million premises liability settlement for a serious injury due to inadequate security by property owner.
At Barnes & Cohen, we have over 40 years of successful personal injury experience. We will investigate the facts and see if the property owner may be negligent.
NEGLIGENT HAZARDS THAT CAUSE ACCIDENTS
Security concerns everyone in our community. This complex area of the law examines what precautions should have been taken to protect the victims from injury. While there are a whole host of ways property owners can be negligent, here are some of the hazards that typically fall under premises liability:
- Negligent security resulting in violent assaults, sexual assaults, shootings and robberies
- Failure to screen employees with background checks, resulting in assaults, robberies or day care injuries
- Inadequate safety and/or violation of standard procedures at day care or nursing home facilities resulting in injuries or even death
- Swimming pool inadequate security resulting in drownings
- Unsecured manhole covers
- Poor elevator maintenance resulting in accidents
- Escalator injuries
- Building code violations (stairs not the right height, etc.)
- Safety code violations (lack of smoke detectors in apartments, etc.)
- Toxic mold
- Poorly installed or maintained lights/chandeliers that fell down
- Poorly lighted parking lots
- Broken railings
- Dangerous chemicals used or stored improperly, resulting in injury
- Boxes falling from shelves
- Blocked or unmarked exits resulting in injuries during a fire or violent assault or shooting
- Debris in aisles, resulting in slip-and-fall accidents
- Unrestrained, aggressive dogs resulting in dog bite attacks
IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT
In many cases, owners aren’t taking care of their property. It’s not a safe environment. For example, when a woman slipped on broken glass in a liquor store, the owner had a duty to keep the store safe.
All property owners have the responsibility to keep the premises free from crime. The owner is guilty of neglect if he or she does not take the proper steps toward safety. For example, an ATM located in a poorly lighted, secluded area resulted in a victim being robbed and shot. The bank in question had researched placing the machine in a different location, but decided the other option was going to cost more. A hotel owner should have adequate locks installed on the hotel room doors—guests have a right to be safe. Businesses need to do background checks on employees and should not hire questionable characters.
NOT SURE WHAT YOUR CASE IS WORTH? GET A FREE CONSULTATION.
Speak with a personal injury attorney before talking to the insurance company or accepting any offer. Contact Barnes & Cohen and protect your rights. With offices in North Florida and South Georgia, we are convenient to find. Hablamos español.
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Barnes & Cohen is a Jacksonville personal injury law firm dedicated to providing strong advocacy to personal injury clients throughout North Florida and South Georgia for over 40 years.
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