You are staying in a hotel room for a night or two, so you can get to an out-of-town meeting. You don’t notice a spilled cup of water from the previous user of the room until it’s too late. You find yourself on the floor in excruciating pain with the pain radiating from your tailbone. You are unable to breathe for a split second as the fall squeezes the air out of you.
When you are able to speak again, you call the hotel management to ask for them to call 9-1-1. You are unable to stand at this point and know that you will be losing time from work so you can recover from this injury in the hospital. You wonder what can be done about this fall since you know it could possibly be the fault of the hotel. Here is some information about what the hotel is responsible for and what you can get in terms of compensation for your injury.
What is the hotel responsible for?
There are several things that a hotel is responsible for in terms of your safety these days. There are common responsibilities that include keeping up with the lighting in your room, the hallways, and the lobby. There are other common duties that include keeping any stairs or steps dry and unobstructed for your easy access and repairing any defects to the building and property.
Other more general duties they are responsible for include controlling any insect infestation (bed bugs), maintaining security to avoid someone stealing your property or even assaults, maintaining a reasonable degree of care in hiring new staff (background checks), preventing injuries at their pool if they have one, maintaining their stairs and elevators, and making sure the locks on each hotel room work properly.
Proving that the hotel was negligent.
One of the most important aspects of a case for hotel negligence is that the burden of proof is on you and your lawyer. You must prove that the hotel caused your injuries through a sense of negligence. It could be something like faulty items in the hotel room, such as wiring in the TV or hairdryer. It could also be bed-bugs in the mattress that cause you an allergic reaction, forcing you into the hospital. It could be something like the hotel staff cleaning your room before you enter and missing an obvious spill on the floor.
They would be guilty of negligence if you fall on a spilled drink or the like that the staff should have seen before leaving the room. The other important aspect of any successful negligent lawsuit is the element of harm. You have to be physically harmed because of negligence on their part, such as an obvious safety hazard. You not only have to prove that there was a hazard but that you fell because of that hazard as well.
Getting the money you deserve.
When filing a lawsuit against the hotel you stayed at for compensation, there are several ways you can get some financial relief. You will more than likely be in the hospital long enough that you will lose work, which means you will lose out on wages you deserve. Because of that, your lawyer can get you the money you deserve while you’re recovering from the injury you sustained.
It will depend on the severity of your injury but the “damages” you receive could include medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and mental anguish. You deserve to recover without the stress of paying your bills as well.
North Carolina Hotel Negligence Attorneys
I’m Brian Ricci, a North Carolina Hotel Negligence Attorney. If you have suffered a injury due to the negligence of a property owner, please call me anytime at (252) 777-2222 or 1-800-387-6406 for free, friendly advice. Let’s go over the details of your accident case over the phone and see how best to proceed. The call is free and there is no obligation to you.
I am a longtime member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum.
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