Beads

Q: After swimming, I walked down the matted corridor toward the locker room.  At the end of the corridor, the matting ended.  Before stepping off the matting, I looked down but saw no water.  When I stepped onto the tiles, I slipped and fell.  While on the floor, I saw beads of water on the tile.  In the area of my fall, there were no wet floor warning signs.

Near to that area, there was a drain in the floor, and towels were often used to sop up excess water.  I believe that the maintenance staff would mop the locker room every 15 to 20 minutes.

A: Your attorney will argue that, because you were neither in the pool area nor in the shower area, water was not ‘necessarily incidental’ to the intended use of the area where you fell.  What is more, the need for towels suggests that there was a defective condition and that staff failed to mop up water with sufficient frequency.

The pool’s attorney may well take aim at your use of the word ‘beads’, arguing that mere beads, on the floor of a locker room serving a swimming pool – and containing showers, sinks, a steam room, and a sauna – was necessarily incidental to the locker room’s intended use and cannot possibly support a cause of action for negligence.

When had the area last been mopped?  Is there a written schedule?  A written confirmation?  Can a worker remember?  If not, your case gets stronger.  Your objective is to show that your injury was caused by a hazardous condition of which the defendant had actual or constructive notice.

By: Scott Baron,
Attorney at Law Advertorial

The law responds to changed conditions; exceptions and variations abound. Here, the information is general; always seek out competent counsel. This article shall not be construed as legal advice.

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