Alberta Premises Liability Lawyer

Do I Have a Slip and Fall Case?

Video Transcript: 

Steve Grover: 

If you're going onto someone's property, you have to make sure that that property is safe and reasonable for visitors or invitees to come on and make sure that they are taken care of and they don't have an injury.

Molly Hendrickson: 

If you're injured on someone's property, how do you know if you have a case? We're gonna talk to Lawyer Steve Grover about that on today's episode of Ask The Lawyer. Steve, thanks for joining us.

Steve Grover: 

Thanks for having me again.

Molly Hendrickson: 

As an injury lawyer, you've handled lots of premise liability cases. Can you give us an overview of what happens when someone is hurt on commercial property?

Steve Grover: 

Essentially unfortunately, if someone's going into a store and they're entering the sidewalk and there's ice everywhere and they fall, and they do suffer an injury because of someone's negligence of not taking care of the ice or snow, obviously, under... Alberta, there's the Occupier's Liability Act, which governs that you've got a duty of care as a commercial owner to make sure that your premises are safe for invitees. And there is a duty of care, and obviously there's obligations to keep your premises clean and safe. So if someone's going into a store for shopping, you wanna make sure that the visitors or invitees have opportunity to know that they can go to the store and be in a safe and reasonable condition, so they don't have to suffer an injury. And so that's pretty much outlined in the Occupier's Liability Act here in Alberta, under Section Five.

Molly Hendrickson: 

Do you think that people have the wrong idea about slip and fall claims, that maybe the injuries aren't serious? What kind of injuries have you seen people sustain from these accidents?

Steve Grover: 

I mean, growing up in the '70s and '80s and watching the Roadrunner and Coyote and seeing those kind of... The coyote slips and falls in a banana and everyone laughs, I mean, that's a general perception. You always think of the banana peel where someone's walking and as gentleman falls down and it's like in the cartoon and people are injured, people laugh at, "He slipped on a banana. How could that be... That's pretty funny." But unfortunately, yeah, we have represented people that are seriously injured and have herniated discs, have traumatic brain injuries and they are serious claims, because that person's life has changed in a second, where, obviously they had a good life, they had a job, they had recreational activities they enjoyed doing. And unfortunately, now with a herniated disc or even a brain injury, their life has changed and it's affected your ability to work and also their family life and relationships with their wife and children. So they are serious cases. And people have to know that these are... In society, these are important claims. And if you're going onto someone's property, you have to make sure that that property is safe and reasonable for visitors or invitees to come on and make sure that they are taken care of and they don't have an injury.

Molly Hendrickson: 

I think anybody who's slipped on ice even once knows that you can get serious injuries from that. What constitutes a dangerous condition for a slip and fall claim? And can you give us some examples of when a business might be liable and then also when they might not be liable?

Steve Grover: 

Yeah. I mean, the courts and the case law in Alberta has identified, "Hey, listen, you first of all have to identify there is a hazard. Is there a hazard that made the person fall?" Like, was there water on the floor or ice or even a grape or something, or some foreign substance, like a soda pop exploded and went all over the floor of a grocery store. So you have to identify, number one, that there is a hazard. Usually, if you're running a grocery store, you've got an obligation to make sure all the aisles are clean and you have a safety protocol that mopping is done and you keep records. So, it's important to know that you have to create a... There has to be a hazard. And there are cases that I haven't taken because people come in, they have a fractured knee, it's a serious injury. But when I ask them in the interview, "Do you know what made you fall?" And they say, "No." "And when you got up from the ground, was your pants wet and your leg wet?" "No." I mean, those are kind of cases that are gonna be very hard to litigate and they could be subject to a summary dismissal application where the claim is dismissed by the court in Alberta outright. So those cases aren't worth taking on at this point in time.

Molly Hendrickson: 

If somebody is injured on a commercial property, can you walk us through the steps that they should take? Do they need to go to the ER? Do they need to notify the property owner right away? What should they do?

Steve Grover: 

Yeah. I mean, unfortunately, say you're going in a grocery store and you fall down because of soda pops all over the floor, first of all, people are quite embarrassed. I mean, it's just natural as a human being. Like, "I wanna make sure no one saw me fall, and I just fell. 'Cause I don't want them to think I'm a weak person." But if it does fall, don't be embarrassed about it because obviously there's a substance there, a hazard there that caused you to fall. I would report the injury right away to the store manager, make sure that an incident report is filled out. What you tell the store manager or the employees there, keep it limited, because that could be used against you in a court of law if you say the wrong thing.

Steve Grover: 

If you're seriously injured, you can't move, make sure they call 911, make sure that an ambulance shows up, takes you away. Don't be embarrassed about it, because at the end of the day, it wasn't your choice to be in the accident. But I know people, "I don't wanna look like a... " embarrassed in having taken away in a gurney and on a stretcher into the ambulance. But you're injured, make sure you get the proper medical care, go to the hospital, and thereafter, go to your doctor and start treatment. I mean, paper trail is the most important part of any kind of litigation case, because you've gotta prove your case as a plaintiff in the court of law here in Alberta.

Molly Hendrickson: 

Yeah. Document everything. What is the process at your law office for these types of claims to ensure that people get the money that they need to pay for their medical bills and other injuries that they sustained?

Steve Grover: 

Well, unfortunately, with a slip and fall claim, hopefully the person who's injured does have private medical benefits. We do have a public insurance coverage here in Alberta. Usually, Republicans refer it to as the socialist medical care we have in Canada, but we do have a medical coverage here, but that only covers doctor visits and X-rays, it's very limited. But most people will cover some private health coverage through Blue Cross or Manulife. There's limited coverage that's covered on, on physio and chiropractor and massage.

Steve Grover: 

And sometimes treatment providers we work with, we know this chiropractor that does injury cases and he or she is gonna work on an assignment saying, "Listen, you know what? I know you got a valid claim. I know Steve, he's a good lawyer. I know his office takes on valid claims and I'm gonna take the risk too, that I want you to get better. And we'll treat you, we'll max out your benefits that you have. But at the end of the day, if that's maxed out, we'll do an assignment where at the end of the day, we'll get paid when you get paid," which is fair because a lot of people don't have money. And the problem with these cases is, if you're a plaintiff and you're injured, the courts expect you to mitigate your losses by going for treatment rather than sitting around, just say, "Hey, I got a lower back... " They wanna make sure you've taken the effort to get the treatment and get better and try and get on with your life.

Molly Hendrickson: 

Steve, thanks for taking the time to talk to us today.

Steve Grover: 

Great. Thank you for your time. Hope you have a great week.

Molly Hendrickson: 

Thank you, you too. And that's gonna do it for this episode of Ask The Lawyer. My guest is Steve Grover. If you wanna ask him a question about your situation, you can call the number on your screen. Thanks for watching. I'm Molly Hendrickson for Ask The Lawyers.

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