You and your family were eating at Olive Garden. You had to use the restroom. You start walking and the next thing you know your foot slips out from underneath you and you hit the ground. You look down towards your pants leg and see an oily substance on your hem.
A waitress comes up and asks if you’re okay. You’re startled but you think your okay. She helps you up, you go to the restroom, and then back to your table. You explain to to your family what happened. A manager comes over and takes some information.
By the time you’re finished with dinner, you are feeling intense pain in your lower back and hips. You can barely walk.
As you leave the restaurant, you tell the front desk person that you are injured, you do not know if she told the manager or not.
The Hospital
Because you are feeling pain when you leave Olive Garden, your spouse takes you to the hospital. This is one of the first rules in personal injury claims. If you are feeling any pain or discomfort after the incident, you MUST seek immediate medical attention. The main reason for getting checked out is make sure that you do not have something serious going on.
In our fact scenario the x-rays were normal so thank goodness there were no broken bones. The ER doctor tells you to follow-up with your family physician within three to five days. Again, if you are still feeling symptoms after a day or two, make that appointment with your doctor. Just because a broken bone didn’t show at the hospital doesn’t mean you are not injured.
Florida Slip & Fall Claims
Many folks injured in slip and fall claims think that just they were hurt in a restaurant, like an Olive Garden, that they are entitled to make a claim. This is not true. In order to receive compensation for injuries after a slip and fall, you have to show that Olive Garden allowed a dangerous condition to exist on its floor or that Olive Garden didn’t warn you that the floor was slippery. The burden of proof is on you, if you decide to make a claim. So it your responsible to be able to answer the following questions:
- What made you fall?
- How did the substance get on the floor?
- Were there any warning (wet/slippery floor) signs?
- Did any of the employees make say something that led you to believe that they knew there was a problem?
Making your claim against Olive Garden
Olive Garden is a restaurant in the Darden Restaurant chain. In cases that I have had with Darden, it is insured by Liberty Mutual and Liberty has adjusters that handle Darden claims only out of their Orlando office.
If you have any questions about making a claim against Olive Garden, you can call 352.267.9168.