An Ohio business is responsible for maintaining a safe environment for its patrons. One of the most common types of accidents related to premises liability involves slips and falls. In these incidents, an individual can suffer minor or serious injuries depending on the conditions. In serious situations, medical bills and other expenses can mount as an injured party seeks treatment or deals with lost wages. In some cases, injured parties might bear some of the responsibility for their accident, which can affect their ability to recover damages through legal action.
Premises liability cases involving negligence on the part of the injured individual can limit that party’s recovery based on state law and their percentage of responsibility. For example, some states prohibit recovery for an individual whose share of negligence in an accident is as little as 1 percent. Other states allow an individual to recover damages in proportion to the property owner’s percent of responsibility. In some locations, a property owner will pay in proportion to their share of negligence only if they are deemed to be at least 51 percent responsible.
Ohio residents are permitted to recover damages in some cases in which they are negligent. This is limited, however, to situations in which all other responsible parties combined are deemed to exceed the plaintiff’s level of negligence. If a plaintiff is found to be more responsible than the other parties, they cannot collect damages.
In a hypothetical case, an individual might suffer serious injuries after slipping on a wet floor a grocery store. That individual’s lack of attention because of cellphone use could be construed as negligence. However, the proprietor of the store or owner of the property might bear responsibility based on failing to mop the area or failing to warn patrons of the hazardous conditions.