I Got Hurt At Auntie Anne’s Restaurant, Now What?

When visiting Auntie Anne’s for a delicious soft pretzel, the last thing we expect is to become the victim of a slip and fall injury. Unfortunately, this is a real possibility and something that happens to Americans in restaurants all over the country every single day. If the worst has happened and you have injuries from a trip to Auntie Anne’s restaurant, it’s important you take the right steps if you’re to recover the compensation you deserve.

Restaurant Slip and Fall Injury Cases

It’s true, you may be entitled to compensation after an injury in Auntie Anne’s (and any other fast food restaurant in the United States!). However, there are a few things that need to be in place for a lawsuit to be successful. For example, it’s firstly qualified as a personal injury case and this is why you need personal injury lawyers like The Injury Firm on your side.

When you start working with professionals, they will build your case and essentially gather all the facts to present to the restaurant chain. From here, they will either negotiate a settlement or reject your claim. With the very best personal injury lawyers, like the team at The Injury Firm, they have the resources to take the case to court. This being said, none of this is possible without proving four things:

1. Duty of Care - Firstly, you’ll need to prove that the restaurant had a duty of care towards customers. With Auntie Anne’s, they make the pretzels in front of customers. Therefore, they put up warning signs to customers that surfaces may be hot. Additionally, they can’t send out sauces above a certain temperature and they need to be aware of spillages and other trip hazards on their premises.

Fortunately, Auntie Anne’s does have a duty of care towards ALL customers who enter their premises. With this in mind, this is perhaps the easiest point to prove.

2. Duty Breach - From here, our fantastic lawyers at The Injury Firm will work towards showing that Auntie Anne’s actually breached this duty. Whether you slipped on a hazard that should have been cleared away earlier or burned yourself on a surface that didn’t have sufficient warning, we will prove that Auntie Anne’s failed in their duty towards you.

3. Injury - Thirdly, you must have a significant injury. Just because you’ve found a hot oven near where customers congregate, this isn’t enough for a lawsuit against a big company like Auntie Anne’s. Whether financial, physical, or emotional, there needs to be some form of injury.

4. Link Between Injury and Duty Breach - Finally, your personal injury lawyers will draw the link between the breach in duty and your injuries. If the employees would have noticed and cleared the hazard as they should have done, you wouldn’t have fallen and you wouldn’t have the medical bills you do now. Often, drawing this link is the hardest step, so you need professionals who will dedicate time and build a strong case on your behalf.

Proving Negligence in a Slip and Fall Accident

If you’re to get compensation for your restaurant slip and fall injury, one of the most important parts of the case will be proving negligence. In truth, there are a number of ways you can get injured in a restaurant. Although we’ve been focusing on slip and fall incidents, you might get burned on a hot counter, or experience another form of injury entirely (more on this in a moment). Regardless of the injury, our job of proving negligence will remain the same.

What does ‘negligence’ mean? Well, the owner/manager has a duty of care for customers; this is something we’ve discovered already. As part of this, they need to be aware of certain hazards that are created over the course of the day. If they were aware, or perhaps should have been aware, of the hazard that caused your injury, then this is considered negligence. Especially when they were aware but took no corrective action, you will be owed compensation.

With something like a torn carpet or broken handrail, these are issues that should be noted and fixed. If they are left for a number of months and then somebody gets injured, there’s no excuse for Auntie Anne’s. On the other hand, spilled liquid or food has more of a grey area. Ultimately, the success of your case will depend on the length of time between the spillage and the injury. If only a few seconds, it would be unfair to assume that the employees and managers ‘should’ have known about the hazard.

Common Injuries in Auntie Anne’s

Unfortunately, restaurant slip and fall injuries can range from simple cuts and bruises to terrible brain damage. Over the years, we’ve helped people with broken bones, sprains, strains, neck injuries, back discomfort, and more. If you’ve suffered an injury that wasn’t your fault, get in touch with The Injury Firm today.

The Injury Firm - Professional and Reliable Assistance

Unfortunately, the cost of getting hurt in Auntie Anne’s goes beyond physical pain. What started as an innocent trip to get a pretzel can soon turn into financial turmoil, arguments with loved ones, stress over survival, and more. If the restaurant was genuinely negligent and therefore responsible for your injuries, you shouldn’t have to pay the consequences. By working with The Injury Firm, you may be able to receive compensation for:

• Medical bills
• Lost income
• Pain and suffering

If your injury is so severe that you will no longer be able to work in your job, this could also warrant compensation. At the Injury Firm, we have the resources to protect your rights and receive compensation both for current medical bills and any medical expenses that will arise in the future. If Auntie Anne’s reject a settlement figure that we think is appropriate, we will prepare the case for a lawsuit. Either way, you can focus on getting better while professionals with extensive experience handle your case for a positive result!