Slip, Trip and Fall Injuries in Florida

Slip and fall in a store or other business: if a person slips and falls on a 'transitory foreign substance' (for example a spill) in a business establishment, the injured person must prove the business had actual or constructive knowledge of the dangerous condition and should have taken action to fix it. Constructive knowledge can be shown by circumstantial evidence that the condition existed long enough that the business, using ordinary care, should have known of it, or that the condition happened regularly and was therefore foreseeable. The statute says it does not change any common-law duty of care owed by whoever possesses or controls business premises.

Florida's sovereign immunity waiver statute covers both the State and local governments: 'state agencies or subdivisions' include counties and municipalities. Before suing a city or county, the injured person must present the claim in writing to that city or county within 3 years after the claim accrues (unlike claims against state agencies, a claim against a municipality or county does not also have to be presented to the Department of Financial Services), and the claim must be denied in writing; if there is no final decision within 6 months after filing, the claim is treated as denied. The lawsuit itself must be filed within 4 years after the claim accrues (medical malpractice and wrongful death follow their own deadlines). Recovery is capped at $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident; any amount above that can be paid only by a further act of the Legislature, and punitive damages and pre-judgment interest are not allowed.

Modified comparative fault (51% bar). In negligence cases, an injured person's own fault reduces the damages proportionately, but a person found more than 50% at fault for his or her own harm recovers nothing. This bar does not apply to personal injury or wrongful death claims for medical negligence, where pure comparative fault applies. Each defendant generally pays only its own percentage of fault.

A lawsuit founded on negligence (such as most car-accident and slip-and-fall injury claims) must be filed within 2 years. Claims for assault, battery, false imprisonment and other intentional torts have 4 years, as do product-related injury claims.