Court: Store Isn’t Liable for Woman’s Slip-and-Fall Injuries

Slip-and-fall accidents can result in damages ranging from minor sprains to broken bones and spinal cord injuries. When these falls occur on someone else’s property, the injured party is sometimes entitled to recover damages, but not always. A recent New Jersey case is one such example.

Last Tuesday, a New Jersey appeals court upheld an earlier Superior Court ruling in favor of Burlington Coat Factory in a lawsuit brought against the retailer by a customer who claimed to have slipped on a piece of fruit while shopping in the company’s Middlesex Mall location. Generally, property owners are responsible for keeping their property safe or at least warning visitors of potential dangers until they can be rectified. In this instance, however, the woman allegedly slipped on fruit, which had nothing to do with the store’s business. Because of this, the appeals court ruled, store management could not be expected to have been aware of the danger prior to the accident. For more details on the court’s ruling, see “Burlington Coat Factory not liable for woman who slipped on fruit, court finds.”