Land owners are not insurers of their guest’s safety, but do have a responsibility of maintaining their property in reasonably safe condition. This includes temporary hazards like a wet floor or a snow-covered sidewalk. The landowner’s standard of care (expected behavior) is based upon the legal status of the person visiting the property. Failing to meet the expected behavior may attach liability for personal injuries occurring on the owner’s land. Contact Premises Liability Lawyer George Angelopoulos to explore your options after injuries sustained from a slip and fall, trip, shelf collapse or other personal injury on someone else’s property.
Invitees
‘Invitees’ are visitors entering a property for a business purpose, such as customers in a grocery store or guests in a restaurant. Visitors who have a purpose to benefit the landowner are owed the highest duty of care. People or entities opening their property for business purposes must keep their premises free from dangers and make regular inspections for hazardous conditions. They also must warn invitees of any dangerous conditions. Not to be discussed further in this article, but Invitees can transform into trespassers if the business guest enters restricted areas of the establishment. Further, the landowner has to either cause the dangerous condition or be aware of the situation for liability to attach.
Licensees
‘Licensees’ are often defined as social guests and are owed a slightly lower degree of care than invitees. This makes sense because the visitor is not there solely for the benefit of the property owner. However, the landowner must warn licensees of any dangers on the premises and as in all personal injury cases the harm must be foreseeable. This would include warning guests of broken chairs, irregular flooring or missing safety devices who sustain a personal injury.
Trespassers
‘Trespasser’ means a person who enters or remains on the real property of another without actual or implied permission, or a person who engages in conduct that constitutes a criminal trespass offense (T.C.A. 29-34-208) Generally a possessor of real property owes no duty of care to a trespasser except to refrain from willfully, with negligence so gross as to amount to willfully, intentionally, or wantonly causing injury. Tennessee is one of many states that impose a very high threshold for trespassers to recover compensation for injuries sustained on the property. Some are surprised that any liability can occur by someone who is not authorized to visit the property. Basically a land owner would need to intentionally inflict injury or be so grossly reckless that the conduct is deemed intentional in nature.
Premises liability cases can arise from the failure to provide proper security measures. If a property owner’s negligence results in a third-party attack on a visitor, they can be held responsible. This commonly occurs in apartment buildings, where broken doors and windows may allow criminals to gain access or in high crime areas after minimal, if any, security measures have been implemented to protect visitors.
Franklin Slip and Fall Attorney George Angelopoulos takes pride in holding property owners accountable for their action or inaction. Recovering financial compensation and obtaining medical care needed to heal personal injuries are the priorities.
