A Louisiana woman has filed suit against a grocery store after allegedly suffering serious injuries as the result of a slip and fall accident inside the business.
According to the Louisiana Record, Donnea Collins is suing Whole Foods Company Inc. and their insurance company after suffering a slip and fall at the 3420 Veterans Blvd. location in Metairie. According to Collins, she was in the produce section when she slipped and fell in a liquid on the uncleaned floor.
She allegedly suffered severe injuries to the muscles, joints, and bones of her ankle, foot, and leg. She says that Whole Foods should have recognized the hazard and cleaned the area accordingly before she slipped and fell.
Collins is suing for pain and suffering, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, loss of enjoyment of life, medical bills, and mental pain. Whole Foods Company Inc. is accused of failing for maintain the premises, failing to place warning signs, and other related accusations.
In the U.S., more than 17,000 slip and fall accidents happen every year, and more than 30 million people suffer injuries that need medical treatment.
“Whole Foods owes a duty to its shoppers to provide a premises reasonably free of hazards or defects,” says Lindsay Rakers, an attorney at Tapella & Eperspacher.
When people sustain injuries in slip and fall accidents when a business or individual is at fault, they may have grounds to file a personal injury claim. The injured parties should try to collect as much information about the situation as possible, including the cause of the slip and fall, how long the dangerous conditions has been in place, whether or not there were warning signs placed in the hazardous area, and whether or not the business knew that the floor was slippery. It’s also important to get witness statements, and to seek medical attention as soon as possible after the accident.
“To recover for her injuries, Ms. Collins would need to show that there existed a dangerous condition on the property, that Whole Foods knew or should have known of the dangerous condition and didn’t remedy the condition and/or failed to warn of the condition, and that such condition was the cause of her injuries,” says Rakers.