Can I Sue a Restaurant if I Was Injured There?

Visiting a restaurant is an experience that allows you to enjoy quality time with your family or catch up with friends. You never expect an injury from a visit to a local restaurant, but it's always possible. Restaurants are expected to maintain a safe space indoors and outdoors for customers to visit, free of risk. This includes both the restaurant and food safety.

Common Restaurant Accidents

These are the most common accident types that occur in restaurants:

• Slip and fall accidents: Spills aren't uncommon in restaurants. Servers or cooks may drop food items or beverages, which could lead to customers or employees slipping and falling. Bad weather can also cause customers to track snow or ice indoors, which can become dangerous as it melts.
• Trip and fall accidents: Trips are also a possibility and include a customer or employee tripping over a hazard, like loose floorboards or messy wires.
• Food poisoning: Restaurants that serve unsanitary or improperly cooked food may cause their customers food poisoning.
• Driver accidents: Driver accidents are also possible, with many customers coming and going into the parking lot. There are also a lot of delivery drivers with larger commercial trucks who may not notice guests as they cross the parking lot. Damaged parking lots with a lot of potholes may also cause drivers to lose control, leading to an accident.

These are just a few of the most common types of accidents that occur in restaurants. Other risks include burns, product injuries, electrical fires, or faulty seating and tables.

When Can You Sue a Restaurant?

If it's clear that the restaurant or their staff are to blame for your accident, then you may be able to pursue legal action against them. It's not always easy to identify liability, especially when you're in the middle of a hectic accident scene. New Jersey requires all personal injury cases to prove four points. 

The first is a duty of care, which essentially means that the restaurant must have owed you a legal duty of care. All restaurants in New Jersey that welcome customers to dine with them must maintain a safe environment. The second is a breach of duty of care. This means that the restaurant must have breached that duty of care in some way. The most common method of doing this is through negligence. If the staff failed to notify customers of a slippery floor after mopping, it may be considered negligence. If the restaurant was aware of a broken floor piece and didn't do anything to repair it or notify visitors, they may be responsible. New Jersey also requires proof that the restaurant's negligence was the cause of the accident. Finally, we must also prove that actual damages can be reimbursed and compensated through filing a personal injury case. This includes medical bills, property damages, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

Your best option to find out if you can sue a New Jersey restaurant after an accident is to contact a personal injury lawyer. A lawyer can help you identify if your case meets each of these four points.

Contact a Point Pleasant Personal Injury Lawyer to Discuss Your Restaurant Injury Case in  New Jersey

Did you or a loved one sustain serious injuries due to a slip and fall at a restaurant in New Jersey? Don't let the medical bills pile up while you wait for the negligent party or their insurance company to do the right thing. Right now, you need an aggressive personal injury attorney on your side, fighting to get you the compensation you need, want, and deserve. The skilled attorneys at Lombardi and Lombardi, P.A.represent clients injured because of a restaurant injury case in New Brunswick, Perth Amboy, Middletown, Howell, and throughout New Jersey. Call (732) 906-1500 or fill out our online contact form to schedule a free consultation about your case. We have an office conveniently located at 1862 Oak Tree Road, Edison, NJ 08820, as well as offices in Edison, Brick, Freehold, and Point Pleasant Beach, NJ.

The articles on this blog are for informative purposes only and are no substitute for legal advice or an attorney-client relationship. If you are seeking legal advice, please contact our law firm directly.