QUESTION
What should my course of action be if I got injured in a restaurant?
Asked on Jun 29th, 2015 on Personal Injury - California
More details to this question:
I was at a self sitting restaurant where you order at the cashier and the servers just bring you the food. My 3 year old sat on a glass top dining table and I was standing next to looking for a bigger seating table. Next thing I know the glass top table shattered and broke to the floor. I think my son lightly banged the mason jar that was placed as fork holder. My son was amazingly not hurt but the glass cut my toe. There was no manager on sight when I asked for management. The lead shift leader just gave me bandages and I had to leave to get my self to the emergency room. I received three stitches and no one from the restaurant even called to follow up. What should be my course of action? There are a lot of glass too tables there and lots of families patronizing the place. Also, that table was faulty as I recall seeing paper shoved on the legs to make it balanced.
3 ANSWERS
Edwin K. Niles
Every claim or law suit has two basic elements: Liability (fault) and damages (how much). Many times a person may have a good claim but the damages are insufficient to interest a lawyer in taking your case. If the damages are modest you may wish to sue in Small Claims Court, where no lawyers are allowed and the damages are limited to $10,000.
Answered on Jul 01st, 2015 at 4:09 PM
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I'd say that there is aggravated liability. If the table was designed that way I'd think it defective. The wear and use of the table indicate negligence. The attitude there was bad but not illegal. I recommend that you meet with a personal injury attorney for a free evaluation of your case. Likely you can handle it yourself and use Small Claims Court to get a decision if you don't settle. Your kid may need to bang (with protection) on the other glass tables to get them out of there.
Answered on Jul 01st, 2015 at 12:31 AM
Seems a bit negligent to me to put a three year old on top of a glass table. ?I would assume his weight and possibly moving around is what caused the table to break. Send a copy of the medical bill to the owner of the restaurant and tell them what happened, including that no one followed up to see how you were or offered to drive you for treatment, but do not expect much beyond the medical bill being paid and offer of a free meal.
Answered on Jul 01st, 2015 at 12:29 AM