What must someone prove to claim negligence against your company?

If a visitor to your business or an employee brings an injury claim against your company, they need to meet certain requirements. Generally, for a situation to be actionable, it needs to involve provable losses and either misconduct or noteworthy negligence. 

Perhaps someone had a slip-and-fall incident while in your retail facility, or maybe a worker claims you didn’t protect them from getting hurt on the job. You may have premises liability insurance or workers’ compensation coverage to protect you from liability, but someone who gets hurt might want to take you to court. 

Establishing negligence is a crucial step for both workers and consumers who want to bring a civil lawsuit against a business rather than just file an insurance claim. What will typically constitute negligence for the purposes of a civil lawsuit?

Negligence involves unreasonable behavior

There are certain risks that most people could predict and outcomes that the average person can easily anticipate. Everyone learns about the dangers of alcohol consumption before driving, so the average person would recognize that it is a potentially dangerous practice. Wet floors are a known cause of slip-and-falls, so failing to mop or put out a sign when the floor is wet could constitute negligence. 

If a business or one of its employees failed to do something that a reasonable person would see as necessary for safety or if they did something that a reasonable person would agree is quite unsafe, then the people affected by those actions or omissions could potentially have grounds for a negligence claim. Understanding what constitutes negligence can help your business respond to claims or lawsuits brought by workers or visitors.