South Florida Injury Attorney Blog

As a Lake Worth premises liability attorney, I’ve written here before about the suspected “cancer cluster” at the Palm Beach County community of The Acreage. After an abnormally large number of children in the community were diagnosed with brain cancer, the community began pushing for tests to confirm suspicions that radiation may have contaminated the area’s groundwater. A previous test from the state found radiation in 10% of randomly selected wells in the community, and a New York City toxic tort law firm has also conducted tests finding radiation in homes. According to a Jan. 10 Sun-Sentinel article, the Palm Beach County Department of Health also plans tests to look for radon in homes where children lived when they were diagnosed with cancer.

The Health Department has been investigating the suspected cancer cluster since the summer of 2009 and has not yet concluded that rates of cancer there are unusually high. However, the tests for radon are cheap and easy to conduct, a spokesman said. The county plans to end its interviews with families in the next few weeks, at which time it will start the testing. The results will be presented at a community meeting about the problem in February. Radon gas is a by-product created when the radioactive chemical element radium decays. It is colorless, odorless and tasteless, making it difficult for humans to detect -- but it’s also a known carcinogen. Some Acreage residents believe the radiation could be the result of toxic spills from a nearby plant for rocket developer Pratt & Whitney, which later became a Superfund site.

As a toxic contamination site lawyer in Plantation, I will be very interested in the results of this study. Human beings knew radon caused sickness among miners as early as the sixteenth century, and federal agencies suggest immediate action when radon levels in a home or workplace exceed guidelines. If testing can identify radon as the source of the problem, homeowners can take that action as soon as possible to protect themselves and their families. Testing may also help investigators determine the source of the contamination, an extremely important issue for residents who are considering legal action. If radioactive contamination from the Pratt & Whitney plant is the problem, that company, real estate developers for The Acreage and government agencies may all be held legally liable for failing to warn residents about the risk of radioactive exposure.

Continue reading "Health Care Officials Plan Radon Tests at Cancer Patients’ Homes in The Acreage " »

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As an Aventura injuries to minors attorney, I have written several times about the dangers to young children from unattended swimming pools. I am sorry to say that the city of Delray Beach saw another such accident Dec. 29. According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, a three-year-old boy and a boy and a girl, both two, somehow got into a neighbor’s backyard around 5:30 p.m. as they were visiting a family friend. One of the boys was hospitalized in critical condition Tuesday, while the other children were in stable condition. Delray Beach police are investigating how the accident occurred.

The boys are brothers and the girl is their cousin, according to family friend Manette Joseph. Both of their mothers were visiting Joseph’s home while Joseph was working that day. It was unclear whether an adult was watching them when they were outside, but a neighbor, Matilda Corona, had warned the children and a teenager to stay away from her own pool earlier in the day. When the children were found in another neighbor’s pool, Corona’s daughter-in-law, a nursing student, was called to perform CPR. Because the pool was murky and dirty, a Fire-Rescue dive team was called to ensure that there were no more children in it.

The nursing student told the Sun-Sentinel that she didn’t see a screen around the pool. If so, it suggests that the unnamed neighbor may have violated Florida law by failing to erect a fence sufficient to keep small children out. Swimming pools are a leading cause of accidental drowning in toddlers, taking the lives of about 300 children under five each year. For that reason, state law requires owners of new swimming pools to erect a fence around their pools high and secure enough to keep young children out. Failure to follow this law can result in a criminal charge, as well as clear liability in any West Palm Beach child injury lawsuit. This is entirely separate from the issue of whether the children were adequately supervised by adult family members. If they were not, both parties would be at fault and any financial recovery for the family would be reduced accordingly.

Continue reading "Toddlers Hospitalized After Wandering Into Unattended Delray Beach Pool" »

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As a Pompano Beach premises liability attorney, I was very interested in a recent report about an outbreak caused by contaminated water at an upscale Miami hotel. The Miami Herald reported Dec. 13 that bacteria in the water at the Epic Hotel is believed responsible for one death among the guests and two other cases of illness. All three victims contracted a rare form of pneumonia called Legionellosis, or Legionnaires’ disease, which is generally transmitted by breathing water vapors infected with the Legionella family of bacteria. Authorities say that the three victims represent only a fraction of all of the guests the hotel had seen over the past two months, but about 300 guests still asked to be moved to other hotels.

The problem was uncovered by a joint investigation between Florida state health officials and the Miami-Dade County Health Department. The investigators put the blame on the hotel’s powerful new water filter -- which, ironically, was intended to improve the quality of the drinking water. The filter was so powerful that it removed the chlorine from ordinary Miami city tap water, allowing bacteria to grow. The result was three known cases of Legionnaires’ disease in the past two months, affecting unrelated European tourists. The first victim, a man, visited the hotel on the way to a cruise ship, where he became ill. He was rushed back to the mainland for treatment, but died. The other two victims were a man sickened in late November and a woman who fell ill this month. The article did not mention whether they have recovered. Poor international communication prevented authorities from discovering the connections earlier, county officials said.

The article says that the hotel is working with the county to fix the problem, by bypassing the water filter and temporarily tripling the chlorine in the hotel’s supply. But as a Hallandale Beach dangerous premises lawyer, I wonder whether careful investigation beforehand would have revealed that the water filter was removing necessary safeguards from the hotel’s water supply. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Legionella bacteria are common in the environment and especially likely to be passed on at hotels. Like many bacteria, they thrive in the warmer temperatures common in South Florida. Chlorinated drinking water may taste bad, but it’s also specifically intended to inhibit growth of microbes in the public water supply. All of these facts suggest that the hotel should have at least considered the chance of contamination before filtering out the chlorine.

Continue reading "Contaminated Water at Miami Hotel Kills One Guest and Sickens Two Others" »

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As a Miramar premises liability attorney, I was interested to see a report about a major incident at Walt Disney World that left about 300 people stuck in cars high above the ground. The Orlando Sentinel reported Dec. 14 that a hard drive failed in the computer system that runs the monorails at around 1 a.m. early on Sunday, Dec. 13. The computer problem cut off power to seven monorail cars, three of which were out of the station with people inside. No injuries were reported, but the Reedy Creek Fire Department used ladders to rescue guests from the high monorail tracks, which a Disney spokesperson said was motivated by customer service concerns. The trains began running again around 4 a.m. and were operational when the park opened Sunday.

It was the third incident involving monorail service at the Magic Kingdom this year. In July, a Disney employee was killed when two of the trains crashed. In the fall, an electrical short shut down parts of the system in an incident that affected 25 people but did not result in any injuries. While nobody was hurt in this latest incident, several park visitors wrote in to television station Central Florida News 13 complaining about the way Disney handled the incident. Because the power was out, there was no air conditioning, they wrote, leaving it hot and muggy inside. One passenger said her driver said not to open the emergency windows in case the glass fell out and onto people below. She also complained that the driver misled her car, saying at first that they were waiting for clearance, and then that they were experiencing minor technical difficulties. Another Disney visitor wrote in to say that his train had a power outage earlier in the day, which stranded him for about 45 minutes.

I am pleased that nobody was seriously hurt, even though the experience sounds hot and stressful and probably kept a lot of kids up past their bedtimes. As a Hollywood premises liability lawyer, I can think of a few ways in which someone could have been injured by the experience. Simply being stuck in a small, hot, humid place for three hours could cause problems for people with certain health conditions, such as people with heart problems or time-sensitive medications. Incorrect instructions, or failure to control an angry crowd, could also lead to injuries from people climbing out of the car or getting involved in fights. Just as Disney has a responsibility to make sure its rides and grounds are safe, it also has a responsibility to prevent incidents that it can reasonably anticipate, which may include problems with out-of-control guests. Failure to do that could lead to a tragedy and expose Disney to a premises liability lawsuit.

Continue reading "Power Failure Strands Disney World Visitors on Monorail for Three Hours" »

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Last month, I wrote on this blog about a Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy who suffered burns over about 60% of his body after the gas pump he was using simply exploded. Sgt. Richard Ragali was badly burned Oct. 2 during a motorcycle ride to the Florida Keys with a group of friends. When they pulled into a gas station in Marathon, Ragali’s Harley slipped in a puddle of gas, triggering an explosion and pinning him underneath the bike. Ragali has been hospitalized at Jackson Memorial Hospital ever since. According to a Nov. 14 article from KeysNet.com, he and his family are suing the gas station and its parent companies for failing to take care of the gas spill and prevent the accident.

Ragali’s lawsuit, filed last week in Palm Beach County Circuit Court, names Circle K, Shell Oil, Circle K store number 2386 and Motica Enterprises LLC as defendants. According to television station WPBF, the suit alleges that the store’s owners had been warned several times over the preceding weeks that there was a gas puddle at the pump. Nonetheless, they negligently failed to take action, the complaint charges. Ragali is seeking damages for his medical bills, lost past and future earnings, injuries, pain, suffering, permanent disfigurement and loss of enjoyment of life. His sons, 16-year-old Joshua and 20-year-old Joseph, are claiming the loss of their father’s services, support, guidance and other care. Their family’s West Palm Beach premises liability attorney said they’ve been living with their mother, who is divorced from Ragali, since the accident.

I was also sobered to read about some of the serious consequences of Ragali’s burn injuries. KeysNet reported that he is in a specialized burn unit, where he has received multiple skin grafts and is undergoing physical therapy. The family’s attorney said Ragali recently took 20 steps -- a big deal for his family. As a Lauderhill burn injury attorney, I’m sorry to say that this is not unusual for someone who was so severely burned. In addition to being unpleasant to look at, the inflexible scar tissue from a bad burn can also restrict the victim’s movements if not prevented, corrected or both. Victims typically need long-term physical therapy, care from a burn specialist or dermatologist and sometimes surgeries. Not surprisingly, all this medical care can be very expensive. For someone as badly burned as Ragali, medical costs can easily reach seven figures over a lifetime.

Continue reading "Burned Sheriff’s Deputy Sues Over Leaky, Exploding Gas Pump" »

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A series of cancer deaths among pets has bolstered suspicions that environmental contamination in The Acreage may be causing a human “cancer cluster” as well. According to an Oct. 18 article in the Palm Beach Post, the rate and types of cancer diagnosed in some pets in the community make some residents suspect their pets’ use of well water to drink and bathe may have caused their tumors. The theory follows suspicions among residents of The Acreage that radioactivity in the well water the community uses has created its higher-than-average rate of cancer in human residents, attracting the attention of environmentalists and West Palm Beach premises liability attorneys.

According to the article, the Ceraulo family of The Acreage has seen its two German shepherds die of a type of cancer called hemangiosarcoma in the past four years. The disease is common among German shepherds, but not among cats, which is why the family was surprised when their cat, Sylvester, was also diagnosed in September of this year. Other residents of The Acreage report tumors and cancer-like diseases in their pets, but still others say they’ve had pets for years on the land without trouble. A veterinary oncologist told the newspaper that pets may be bellwethers for conditions that affect humans because they have shorter lives and are closer to the ground.

Because nobody keeps records on cancer in pets, it’s not clear whether there’s an unusually high incidence of cancer at The Acreage. But if there were, it would add fuel to a controversy ignited by an unusually high rate of cancer among human beings in The Acreage. An investigation by the state found that 10% of the water in randomly selected wells had levels of radiation that exceeded state standards, and a private study confirmed those results. Some residents believe the radiation is an aftereffect from the neighboring plant for jet and rocket developer Pratt & Whitney, a defense contractor with a history of toxic spills that nearly made it a Superfund site. A recent town hall meeting on the subject in West Palm Beach attracted Erin Brockovich, a consultant and environmental activist who became famous after a movie about her work on a similar “toxic tort” case in California.

As a Boca Raton premises liability lawyer, I’m glad this issue is getting the attention it deserves. Cancer is a devastating disease. If toxic exposure turns out to be the cause of the cancers in this community, residents deserve to know about it as soon as possible. Under the law, the source of pollution or other toxic exposure is responsible for any harm to human beings that results. (It would also be responsible for harm to their property -- which, under the law, includes pets.) It’s too soon to say, but in this case, that source could well be Pratt & Whitney. If so, the company would be legally liable for all of the injuries the radiation caused, including the cancers themselves as well as related costs like medical treatment and the cost of moving to a community without the contamination.

Continue reading "Pet Deaths Fuel Cancer Cluster Suspicions Among Humans in The Acreage" »

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A little boy died by drowning in a swimming pool at a vacant home, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Oct. 12. Isaac Dieudonne, 2, apparently wandered into the back yard of the home next door to his family’s late on Oct. 11. A relative called the police at 7:40 p.m. to report the boy missing, but soon after, he was found in the pool. A door in the fence of the home’s back yard was open, as was a door in a screen surrounding the pool. Paramedics took Isaac to the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, but he was pronounced dead at around 8:30 p.m. the same night. Law enforcement is investigating whether anyone should be criminally charged in the case.

As a Fort Lauderdale premises liability lawyer, I can’t help wondering who was responsible for the upkeep of this vacant home. If the home had been foreclosed, as so many in South Florida unfortunately have been, it is most likely a bank-owned property. That would mean the bank itself was responsible for the home’s upkeep -- and therefore, for creating the conditions that led to the little boy’s death. That would be true even if vandals had opened the gates, as long as the bank or its agent had a reasonable amount of time to fix the problem. In that sense, Isaac Dieudonne may be an indirect victim of the recession. Of course, none of this addresses the issue of whether the adults watching him may also have been negligent, but this would not remove liability for the property’s owner; it may simply reduce the damages in any lawsuit.

Under Florida premises liability law, owners and operators of properties have a legal responsibility to maintain them safely for visitors. That duty includes a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable hazards, including hazards that might cause an accident, like puddles of oil, as well as foreseeable violent crimes. Because these cases are frequently called “slip and fall” cases, they may seem like minor matters -- but as you can see from this article, premises liability cases can and do involve wrongful deaths and catastrophic injuries. Most commonly, our Miami Gardens premises liability attorneys handle cases involving injuries in public places, such as stores and restaurants. However, government agencies and owners of private homes are also liable, as long as the injured person was not trespassing.

Continue reading "Miramar Toddler Dies After Drowning in Swimming Pool at Neighboring Vacant Home" »

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Our Tamarac premises liability attorneys were interested to see in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel Sept. 27 that the Catholic Church is a defendant in a new lawsuit over toxic mold. A group of residents from St. Andrews Towers in Coral Springs, owned by the Archdiocese of Miami, are suing the archdiocese, the organization that runs the towers and Catholic Health Services for allegedly covering up the mold problem at the five-story seniors’ complex. Residents say the mold makes the air inside the apartments unhealthy, and that the archdiocese knew about the problem but concealed it from residents, even painting over some mold to hide it.

The attorney in the case had sued St. Andrews over the same problem in 2002, a suit that ended in a confidential settlement. Now he alleges that the complex did not take serious steps to fix the mold problem, instead recruiting people to live in the apartments despite the compromised air quality. Spokespeople for the defendants strongly dispute that claim, saying there’s no evidence for any mold problems and that the plaintiffs have never tested for mold. However, the plaintiffs’ attorney said he had personally seen the mold in at least 20 apartments at the complex. Resident Rose Barros said she had complained about mold a few months ago and workers had torn out the offending wall, only to have the same problem on the new wall.

As a Miramar premises liability lawyer, I know mold could be an especially serious problem for senior citizens. Any mold on the walls and ceilings of a home may be ugly, but there are serious health problems associated with certain mold and fungi, particularly a variety called black mold. Mold spores can trigger respiratory problems and allergies in healthy people, but in sensitive people, it can trigger serious respiratory distress, asthma attacks, constant low-grade cold and flu symptoms and more. Among those most likely to be affected are the elderly, who spend more time indoors and tend to have existing health problems. If it’s true that St. Andrews knew about a mold problem and concealed it from residents, it may be judged legally responsible for all of the health problems caused by its inaction and deceit -- which could be far more expensive than simply fixing the problem.

Continue reading "Senior Citizens Allege Catholic Housing Complex Tried to Hide Mold Problem in Building" »

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As a Pompano Beach premises liability attorney, I was very interested in a recent news item about a gas pump exploding for no clear reason. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Sept. 9 that investigators are still looking into the cause of the explosion at a Coconut Creek gas station Sept. 8. Fortunately, the explosion caused only minor injuries to Eden Sherwood, a 48-year-old Deerfield Beach man who was using the pump at the time. However, the fire melted a plastic trash can next to the pump and charred Sherwood’s car with what he described as a “ball of fire.”

According to the article, Sherwood had just finished pumping gas and was reaching into his car for his cell phone when the explosion happened. Investigators do not believe that the cell phone was the cause, and said Sherwood did not report smoking or lighting a match before the incident. However, it’s unclear whether Sherwood’s car was running while he was pumping gas; he said he turned it off, but firefighters found it running at the scene. Investigators are considering the car’s engine as one cause, as well as mechanical malfunctions by the pump, electrical problems, arson and smoking. The financial tally for the damage to the car and station may reach as high as $70,000.

Investigators may still find that actions by Sherwood or another person were responsible for the explosion. However, as an Aventura premises liability lawyer, I immediately wondered whether this incident could be traced to faulty equipment or maintenance by the gas station itself. Under Florida law, all businesses have a responsibility to clear up safety hazards on property open to the public. If people seriously hurt because they haven’t met those standards, the victims have the right to sue the business for their injuries and all related financial costs, such as the cost of hospitalization and a replacement car. In this case, those financial costs could be high -- but everyone involved is lucky that the cost in human suffering wasn’t much higher.

Continue reading "Coconut Creek Fire Department Investigating Cause of Sudden Gas Pump Explosion " »

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As a Broward County injuries to minors lawyer, I was relieved to see a happy ending to a South Florida case that got national attention. Firefighters from Key Biscayne and Miami spent a tense hour Aug. 24 rescuing a three-year-old girl who got stuck in a swimming pool’s drain. According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the little girl was swimming under adult supervision in a backyard pool at a condominium building on Key Biscayne when her arm got stuck. Rescue workers eventually managed to free her, but had to cut a part of the pipe and attached concrete in order to do it. According to the paper, the girl’s hand was slightly crushed, but she was not seriously injured.

It was unclear how the unnamed little girl got stuck in the drain, but the suction created by the drain kept her, and rescuers, from being able to simply pull her arm out. Instead, they tried draining the pool to relieve water pressure, then realized that pressure was not the problem and began cutting out the pipe. While the firefighters worked, the girl’s parents jumped into the pool and helped hold her head above water so she could breathe. After she was freed, she was airlifted to a hospital for further treatment.

Safety advocates told the newspaper that the case underscores the importance of a new federal law intended to prevent just this kind of accident. The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act requires public pools and spas -- including apartment and condo pools like this one -- to install dome-shaped or large and flat drain covers that children cannot get their hands into. Poolsafety.gov, a government Web site explaining the law, said the suction can entrap small children, causing deaths or serious brain damage due to drowning. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported 83 swimming pool entrapments between 1999 and 2008, including 11 fatalities and 69 injuries. Nonetheless, safety advocates said pools around the nation, including the Key Biscayne pool, are not complying with the law, and states have not enforced it, suggesting there may be “a huge safety problem.”

As a Boca Raton child injury attorney, I am particularly concerned about this because South Florida is full of swimming pools, many of which are not in compliance with the Act or not obligated to be. However, manufacturers of swimming pool drains and equipment, like all manufacturers, have a legal obligation to make products that are safe to use and free of defects -- or at least warn their customers about potential safety problems. And operators of public and apartment-complex swimming pools are obligated to comply with the Act. In this case, failing to fulfill those duties puts children at risk of death, which I believe everyone can agree is unacceptable. When children are hurt as a result of this negligence, they and their families have a legal right to hold the negligent people legally liable for the injuries and the often-steep financial costs they cause.

Continue reading "Safety Advocates Call for Stronger Product Safety Enforcement After Key Biscayne Girl Entrapped by Pool Drain" »

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The St. Petersburg Times recently ran an article on the complications faced by two sisters who are trying to track down the truth about their mother's death. Their mother, Anne Talley, died after going into cardiac arrest at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in 2007. The sisters, one of whom was on the scene that night, dispute claims about how quickly the casino staff called 911 after Talley collapsed and what other steps they took to treat her before emergency medical technicians arrived. They want the casino to release records that could end the dispute -- but because the casino is owned by the Seminole Tribe, they cannot force the issue. The Seminoles, as a sovereign nation, are immune from lawsuits under the legal concept of sovereign immunity.

Sovereign immunity is a legal concept saying governments can't be sued, simply because they are governments. That includes Indian tribes, whose land is technically a kind of foreign nation. It also applies to the federal government, states and many local governments. Governments often waive their immunity for specific purposes, such as a lawsuit alleging wrongdoing by government officials, but they're under no special obligation to do so. In fact, when they do lift it, they frequently make it more complicated and difficult to sue them than it would be to sue a private individual or business. For example, many government agencies require you to go through a non-judicial grievance process before you may sue, or notify them that you plan to sue within a very short time after an accident.

The idea behind sovereign immunity is to protect public funds (and thus taxpayers) from lawsuits that could bankrupt them. But in an age when governments can and do get liability insurance, it's hard to see this doctrine as anything other than a convenient way for governments to avoid responsibility for their own actions, or the actions of their employees. Because the Seminoles decline to turn over the records or simply settle, the sisters have no other recourse. In fact, the article notes that they lost their lawyer because there was nothing else he could do for them. That may all be perfectly legal, but it denies them access to justice, the chance to file a Florida wrongful death lawsuit and perhaps peace of mind over their mother's death. (Victims of cruise ship injuries who have signed unfair contracts are in a similar situation.)

Because of these severe restrictions on lawsuits against the government, I always tell clients with these claims to act as quickly as possible after an accident. If you are suing a government entity that has waived its immunity, you often must still meet requirements with very strict deadlines -- some as short as 30 days. If you're considering this kind of claim, I urge you to contact my firm, Cohn, Smith & Cohn, as soon as possible to preserve your access to the courts. We offer free consultations, so there's no risk in speaking to us to learn about your rights and your options.

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In early November, a Miami jury awarded a man $1.2 million in a lawsuit over an extremely unfortunate accident at a batting cage. The Miami Herald reported that the young man was hit in the groin by a 60-mph pitch from a pitching machine. The accident happened after the machine was supposed to have been finished pitching; its light was off and it had finished its round of balls. But when the victim returned to the batting cage to pick up balls, at an employee's request, he was hit by an unexpected pitch that eventually sent him to the hospital.

This story is a good example of a potential Florida premises liability lawsuit that goes beyond a simple slippery floor or wobbly staircase. Premises liability laws require owners of businesses (and most other properties open to the public) to keep their properties free of hazards of all kinds, including malfunctioning equipment as well as tripping hazards and icy sidewalks. Other examples of hazards on a property might be abandoned refrigerators or cars; toxic substances or live electric wires exposed to the air; uncontrolled guard dogs; and swimming pools that aren't gated or locked to keep out toddlers.

In this case, the article suggests that the man's case focused on careless behavior by employees -- asking him to re-enter the batting cage before it was clear that it was safe to do so. In Florida and in many other states, business owners may be held legally responsible for the actions of their employees, as long as those actions were within the scope of their employment. "Within the scope of employment" generally means that the employee has to be doing job-related duties for the employer's benefit, within the hours and physical location normally authorized by the employer. For example, a delivery driver who runs a red light on the job is acting within the scope of his employment, even if his boss didn't tell him to run the light and would have told him not to.

Finally, it's worth noting that the victim in the batting cages lawsuit was awarded $160,000 in medical costs and $1 million in pain and suffering. Given the nature of the injury, I have no doubt that the victim was indeed in great pain, and may well have been deeply embarrassed as well. Such high pain and suffering damages are a bit unusual in an injury case -- but because it's hard for juries to put a value on physical pain and emotional suffering, there's no hard and fast rule. If you've been hurt on someone else's property and would like to know more about your own case and potential damages, Cohn, Smith & Cohn can help. Contact us today for a free consultation on your case.

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A restaurant at the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood had a minor emergency in mid-November that could have been a major one. According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the restaurant was evacuated at about 9 a.m. after a strong smell of gas was reported. Firefighters responding to the scene found that a pilot light at the restaurant was out, which means that natural gas was leaking into the building, filling a large area with a highly flammable gas. This can cause an explosion if the gas is exposed to any source of ignition, even something as small as a cigarette lighter or sparks from faulty wiring. Luckily, the area was evacuated and the gas company was able to fix the problem before anyone was hurt.

The folks who run this restaurant are lucky twice over -- once that the problem was fixed before someone was hurt, and again that it happened so early in the day, before the restaurant could fill with customers. Florida businesses that are open to the public (and private homes with invited guests) have a legal obligation to their customers to maintain a safe environment, or warn visitors about hazards. If they fail in that obligation, by creating unsafe situations or letting safety problems slide, customers and visitors who get hurt have a right to sue them. This is called a premises liability lawsuit, and it applies even when the business didn't know about the problem, but reasonably should have known.

I can only imagine the number of Florida premises liability lawsuits that could be filed against a business that failed to detect or take care of a gas leak in a busy area, causing hundreds of people to be wrongfully killed or very seriously burned in an explosion. But premises liability also applies when someone is hurt in less extreme situations -- a slip down the stairs, holes in the floor during construction or a staircase without a handrail. In some cases, a business or landlord that fails to anticipate and protect visitors from violent crime might also be liable for their injuries under the same laws.

A premises liability lawsuit can help you secure money for your medical bills, wages you lose because of an injury and even compensation for your pain and emotional trauma. If you have been hurt outside your home by dangers that you believe your host could have and should have taken care of, you may be able to make a claim. To learn more about your legal options, please contact my firm, Cohn, Smith & Cohn, for a free consultation.

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The Sun-Sentinel ran a piece recently on the problems faced by small businesses operating out of a warehouse in Pembroke Park, not far from our own main office in Pembroke Pines. The article says the warehouse has housed 300 small businesses in former storage units for as long as 30 years -- but an inspector has only recently discovered that none of them are up to the fire code. Because the units were originally storage rather than commercial or industrial buildings, they didn’t need back doors -- but as businesses, they do.

I sympathize with these business owners. It’ll take creative thinking to solve the problem posed by the building’s structural limitations. But as a businessman myself, I know it’s very important to solve the problem, and there are two reasons why. One is the obvious one: Nobody wants a loss of life. If a fire ever does happen, every cent put into preventing unnecessary deaths will be worth it. You might remember the disaster at the Station nightclub in Rhode Island in 2003, in which 100 people died and many others were injured. In that case, there were fire exits -- but they were obscured by smoke, causing a stampede for the front door. The club was also above its capacity and didn’t have sprinklers installed because of a grandfather clause in local laws.

The other reason may not seem quite as clear for folks who aren’t personal injury attorneys or owners of large businesses. If you’re a business open to the public or clients, you have a legal responsibility in the State of Florida to keep your premises free of dangers, or warn people of any you can’t fix. And you’re legally liable for any injuries that take place if you don’t meet those responsibilities. For the folks in the Pembroke Park warehouse, that means that they could be sued for wrongful deaths or serious personal injuries if they’re unlucky enough to have a catastrophic fire break out without the right safety measures in place. Nobody wants the financial or moral responsibility for that kind of tragedy.

If you’ve been seriously hurt by a preventable danger on someone else’s property, contact Cohn, Smith & Cohn for a free evaluation of your case.

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