Slip, Trip and Fall Injuries in Wisconsin

Wisconsin's 'safe place' statute requires every employer and every owner of a place of employment or a public building to build, repair and maintain it so it is safe, and requires employers to make places of employment safe for employees and for 'frequenters' (such as customers and other visitors), using safety devices and doing everything reasonably necessary to protect their life, health, safety and welfare. It applies to places of employment and public buildings; other premises claims follow general negligence rules from court decisions not read here.

No lawsuit may be brought against a Wisconsin city, village, town or county for injuries caused by an accumulation of snow or ice on a bridge or highway unless the accumulation had existed for 3 weeks; a claim for an accumulation of 3 weeks or more is subject to the general notice and damage-limit rules for claims against local governments (§ 893.80). Cities must clear sidewalks of snow and ice where abutting owners or occupants fail to, charging the cost to the property, and may fine owners for not clearing them.

Under Wisconsin law, sidewalks are part of the street, and a city's board of public works may order an unsafe, defective or insufficient sidewalk repaired or replaced, with notice served on the owner of the lot in front of which the work is ordered; the council may instead keep sidewalks in repair at city expense or split the cost with abutting owners. Injury claims against a city, village, town or county (including for sidewalks) are subject to the 120-day notice of claim and $50,000 damage limit in § 893.80; claims for snow and ice on a highway require that the accumulation existed for 3 weeks.

Before suing a Wisconsin political corporation, governmental subdivision or agency (such as a city, county, town or village) (or its officers or employees), the injured person must serve written notice of the circumstances of the claim within 120 days after the event (late or missing notice does not bar the claim if the entity had actual notice and was not prejudiced), and must present an itemized claim to the entity's clerk that is then disallowed. If the entity does not act within 120 days after the claim is presented, it is treated as disallowed; a lawsuit must be filed within 6 months after a notice of disallowance is served. Damages recoverable in a tort action against these local entities and their officers or employees are capped at $50,000 ($25,000 for a volunteer fire company). State claims are covered by § 893.82 (see injury/government_claims).

Modified comparative negligence (51% bar). An injured person's negligence does not bar recovery if it was not greater than the negligence of the person from whom recovery is sought; damages are reduced in proportion. The injured person's negligence is compared separately against each defendant. A defendant less than 51% at fault pays only its percentage share.

Three years for an action to recover damages for injuries to the person, including injuries from a motor vehicle accident.