Reviewed by Elizabeth W. Finizio, Esq.
Key Takeaways
- Restaurant Risks: Covers both food poisoning and physical injuries (slips, falls, burns, falling fixtures).
- Liability: Owners, managers, or third-party landlords can be held responsible if they neglected unsafe conditions.
- Action Steps: Report the incident, take photos/videos, get witness details, seek medical care, and save all records.
- Compensation: Claims can recover medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
When you enjoy a delicious meal, whether it’s brunch with old friends or dinner with a potential business partner, the last thing you expect is to wake up sick or sustain an injury that leaves you in pain and with considerable damage. However, when your symptoms don’t improve, a trip to the doctor diagnoses you with food poisoning. Unfortunately, if your symptoms don’t improve, you may experience severe harm as a result. Unfortunately, though not as common as other accidents, there are a number of ways in which someone can sustain injuries as a result of negligence in a restaurant. Keep reading to learn more about whether or not you can hold the eatery responsible with the help of a Broward County personal injury attorney.
What Is Food Poisoning?
When food becomes contaminated and consumed, it can lead to illness. Generally, food becomes contaminated during the cooking and preparation through a virus, bacteria, or parasite. Most commonly, a bacterium like E. coli or Salmonella is to blame. However, a virus like norovirus or a parasite like a tapeworm can also lead to this illness.
These viruses and bacteria can contaminate food in several ways. This includes:
- Undercooking food
- Failing to properly store cooked food
- Serving expired food
- Cross-contamination
Similarly, if the person preparing the meal is sick or does not properly wash their hands before touching the food. Generally, food poisoning can be treated at home and lasts less than a week. However, this is not always the case, as it can quickly become severe. Those who suffer from food poisoning will endure vomiting and diarrhea. If these symptoms do not improve, it can lead to dehydration, which has severe side effects, such as seizures and renal failure.
What Restaurant Injuries and Accidents Are Most Common?
While food safety and preparation are considerable concerns for most individuals, it’s necessary to understand that, like other locations, slips, falls, and other physical injuries are often sustained in restaurants. Like all business owners, a restaurant owner is legally obligated to ensure that their property is safe for those lawfully on the premises. Failure to do so can result in a serious accident. As such, resultant accidents often occur in the form of slips and falls, with the most commonly reported hazards including:
- Spills that are not cleaned, especially when warning signs are not placed
- Unanchored carpeting or rugs
- Defective or dangerous sidewalks
- Uneven pavement or potholes in the restaurant’s parking lot.
- Unsafe surfaces or debris left on the restaurant’s sidewalk/walkway leading up to the entrance.
- Dim lighting prevents you from seeing potential safety hazards.
It’s important to understand that restaurant patrons are not the only individuals who can slip and fall due to unsafe property conditions. Unfortunately, employees, including wait staff, bussers, hosts, bartenders, and other staff, may slip and fall due to unsafe conditions on the premises. If this occurs, employees may be able to pursue a workers’ compensation claim.
Additional Accidents Patrons May Suffer
Another common accident that restaurant patrons may face while dining out is a burn injury. As servers walk around with hot plates or drinks, they may:
- Slip
- Lose their balance
- Get bumped into
This may ultimately result in a waiter or other staff member spilling hot food and drinks on a patron. Unfortunately, this can often result in serious burn injuries.
Additionally, patrons and diners may be injured when fixtures within the restaurant are not properly maintained. This can include:
- Falling signs
- Improperly mounted shelving
- Inadequately secured decor
- Splintering tables
- Broken chairs
Can I Hold the Restaurant Liable?
If your illness or injury can be linked back to the eatery where you sustained the illness, you can likely hold them responsible. To do this, you must be formally diagnosed with food poisoning or show that the staff knew about or reasonably should have known about the unsafe conditions on the premises and failed to remedy these conditions in a timely manner, ultimately causing your injuries and subsequent damages.
To prove your sickness is tied to the restaurant, a DNA profile must be taken and compared to any viruses or bacteria found in food and on surfaces at the restaurant. For example, if your food poisoning is caused by rotavirus, which matches the profile of the rotavirus found in the kitchen, you can pursue compensation for the damages you’ve endured.
Elements of Negligence
Generally, to successfully hold a restaurant liable, you must prove the following elements of negligence:
- Duty of care: The restaurant owed you a duty of care
- Breach of duty: The restaurant breached that duty by creating or failing to fix a hazardous condition
- Causation: You suffered injuries as a direct result of the hazardous conditions
- Damages: The injuries caused measurable damages
Other Potentially Liabile Parties
While determining liability may seem simple as holding the restaurant entirely liable, this is often not the case. In many instances, there are other parties that may have contributed to your injuries, meaning multiple entities can face liabilities. For example, you may slip and fall in a restaurant parking lot, at which point you assume the restaurant will assume liability. However, if the landlord is responsible for maintaining a shared space, such as a parking lot, they may face partial liability. This is because the restaurant owner must also ensure the conditions are safe.
What to Do After a Broward County Restaurant Injury
In the event that you are injured in a restaurant accident in Broward County, it’s important to remain calm and take the necessary steps to best protect your health and right to pursue compensation. As such, following an accident, you should:
- Immediately inform management of the injury
- Take photos and videos of the accident scene, including the hazard that caused your injuries
- Gather the names and contact information of witnesses
- Ensure an incident report is filed
- Call the police to request medical assistance if injuries are urgent
- Seek medical attention as soon as possible
Important Evidence to Gather at the Scene
- A copy of the police report that was conducted at the scene of your accident.
- Pictures and videos of your injuries, damages, and the unsafe conditions that contributed to your accident.
- Witness testimonies of your accident.
- Surveillance camera footage of your accident occurring.
- Medical documents and bills that report the date, time, and seriousness of your injuries.
Damages can include medical expenses, lost wages from the time you spend missing work, and pain and suffering or emotional distress you’ve endured as a result of the illness or accident.
It’s essential to contact an experienced personal injury attorney when you endure an illness or an accident as a result of a negligent restaurant. Unfortunately, many are unfamiliar with the fact that they should reach out to this kind of attorney because they assume only physical injuries like broken bones or brain damage apply (or a seasoned Broward County slip and fall lawyer for structural accidents).
At the Finizio Law Group, we understand that these illnesses and injuries can put your life on pause. As such, we will do everything possible to help you hold a negligent restaurant or property manager liable for the damages you’ve endured. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you.
