With hundreds of restaurants offering all manner of cuisines in the area, dining out in Chula Vista is a favorite pastime for tourists and locals alike. Nobody expects to come away from a restaurant with an injury, but this is the reality for many San Diego diners every year. Restaurants and bars can be hotbeds for personal injury accidents. Unsafe premises, poor employee training, and lack of security are just some of the things that can contribute to patron injuries. As a restaurant accident victim, learn your rights for recovery.
Restaurants and Premises Liability Laws
In California, the civil courts allow injured restaurant-goers to take the establishment or another party to court for accidents that occur due to property defects. A premises liability claim may be an appropriate legal action to take if a bar or restaurant patron sustains an injury in a slip and fall, elevator/escalator accident, animal attack, assault, or burn incident. Hazards such as slippery floors, spilled liquids, unsafe staircases, inadequate lighting, and others can make a restaurant unreasonably dangerous for patrons. It is up to the establishment to search for these hazards and make repairs before injuries occur. Failure to do so, resulting in an accident, is negligence.
To prove a premises liability case against a Chula Vista restaurant, the injured party needs four essential elements:
- The defendant was the owner, leaser, occupier, or controller of the establishment at the time of the incident
- The defendant was negligent in the use of the property (the plaintiff will need to show the defendant breached his or her standards of care as a property owner in some way)
- The plaintiff suffered damages – damages include personal injuries or property damage
- The defendant’s negligence caused or contributed to the plaintiff’s harms
Proving the elements of a premises liability claim will often require an investigation of the restaurant in question. An investigation can look at the hazardous condition in question and decide whether a reasonable and prudent property owner would have noticed and repaired it prior to the incident. Property defects that result in patron injuries or wrongful death are grounds for lawsuits. Speak to an attorney to find out if what caused your accident qualifies as a property defect.
Other Forms of Restaurant Negligence
Property hazards aren’t all that threaten restaurant patron safety in Chula Vista. Unsuspecting diners may also suffer harm from food poisoning or choking incidents. A restaurant owner may be liable for food poisoning if the establishment contributed to it. For example, if a poorly trained chef failed to completely cook chicken, leading to a salmonella outbreak, the restaurant would be liable for damages. Negligence is the greatest burden of proof on an ill person in a food poisoning scenario. The defendant must have breached a standard of care that led to the unsafe food item.
Choking incidents that result in patron injury or death could come down to restaurant liability if the staff failed to obey proper emergency procedures. A restaurant has the duty to call for prompt emergency help or to administer emergency care to choking patrons. Failure to do so could be an act of negligence in certain circumstances. There are many scenarios that could result in the restaurant paying for your damages. If your recent breakfast, lunch, or dinner out ended in a personal injury, seek help from a Chula Vista restaurant accident attorney.