A “Wet Floor” Sign Was Out. You Slipped. Do You Have a Case in New Jersey?

In New Jersey, a business owner placing a “wet floor” sign does not automatically protect them from liability if you are injured in a slip and fall. The core legal question is whether they took reasonable steps to ensure visitor safety, and sometimes, a single sign is not enough.

Proving that a business acted negligently even with a sign present requires a detailed look at the circumstances. The property owner’s insurance company will likely argue that the sign was sufficient and that your own actions contributed to the fall.

If you have a question about a fall that happened at a Hackensack business, call us. The team at Maggiano, DiGirolamo & Lizzi, P.C. reviews the details of your situation. Call (201) 585-9111.

Key Takeaways for New Jersey Slip and Fall Claims

A “wet floor” sign is not an automatic defense for a business. The property owner must still take reasonable actions to ensure safety, and a sign may be inadequate if it is poorly placed or the hazard remains for too long.
You must prove the business was negligent to win your case. This requires showing they failed in their duty to provide a safe environment, and this failure directly caused your injuries and financial losses.
New Jersey has a strict two-year deadline to file a lawsuit for a slip and fall injury. Missing this deadline, known as the statute of limitations, will almost certainly bar you from recovering any compensation.

Why Isn’t a Warning Sign Always Enough to Protect a Business?

Under New Jersey premises liability law, property owners have a legal obligation to maintain a reasonably safe environment for their visitors, who are known as “invitees” in legal terms.

This responsibility goes beyond simply warning of a hazard. It is a legal concept that means they must actively look for dangerous conditions and either fix them or provide a warning that is truly adequate. A sign is just one part of fulfilling that duty, not the entire thing.

Was the Sign Placed Correctly?

A sign placed in the wrong spot is just as useless as no sign at all. The analysis typically comes down to two key factors: visibility and proximity.

Visibility: Was the sign placed where a reasonably attentive person would see it before encountering the hazard? A sign tucked behind a merchandise display, around a blind corner, or in a poorly lit corridor may be considered inadequate. The warning must be conspicuous enough to register in a typical environment, where shoppers are commonly distracted by products, lists, and other people.
Proximity: The sign must also accurately represent the scope of the danger. If a small sign is placed at one end of a long, clear spill in a grocery store aisle, it fails to warn of the full extent of the hazard. The warning must correspond to the spill. If the sign is ten feet away from a small puddle but the moisture has spread across a thirty-foot area, the warning is likely insufficient.

How Long Was the Hazard There?

A wet floor sign is meant to be a temporary measure, a stopgap while the spill is actively being cleaned up. However, you can’t just pop a sign down and leave it forever. If a leaky freezer has been dripping for hours or a pipe has been seeping for days, a business is not permitted to just put up a sign and consider its duty fulfilled. This points to a failure to address the underlying problem, which is a form of negligence.

In these situations, we would investigate maintenance logs, review security camera footage, and speak with employees and other customers. This helps establish a timeline to determine whether the business had ample notice of the dangerous condition but failed to take corrective action in a reasonable amount of time.

Was the Sign Itself Clear and Understandable?

Not all signs are created equal. A small, faded, or text-only sign might not be considered an adequate warning, especially in a busy, visually cluttered environment like a large retail store. The classic yellow, A-frame sign with a universal symbol of a person slipping is standard for a reason: it is immediately recognizable and transcends language barriers. A flimsy piece of paper taped to a shelf or a cone without clear markings might not meet the “reasonable” standard, as it may not effectively communicate the specific danger to visitors.

What Does a Successful Slip and Fall Claim Actually Involve?

A successful claim shows that the property owner was negligent and that their negligence directly caused your injury.

Proving the Four Elements of Negligence

Our firm handles the legal work of establishing these four essential points to build a solid claim:

1. Duty of Care: The property owner had a legal responsibility to keep the premises safe for visitors. For a customer in a store, restaurant, or other commercial establishment, this duty is almost always established.
2. Breach of Duty: The owner failed to meet that responsibility. This could be by not cleaning up a known spill promptly, failing to conduct regular inspections to find potential hazards, or placing a warning sign in a location where it was unlikely to be seen.
3. Causation: This breach of duty was the direct cause of your fall and the resulting injuries. In simple terms, the puddle they failed to properly address is the reason you fell and broke your wrist.
4. Damages: You suffered real, quantifiable losses as a result of the injury. These are the tangible and intangible costs that we calculate, including medical bills, therapy costs, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

What Kind of Evidence Helps Build Your Case?

Our role is to gather and preserve all the information that tells the full story of what happened. This includes:

Incident Reports: The official report you may have filled out at the business immediately after the fall.
Photos and Videos: Any pictures you or a witness took of the spill, the inadequate sign, the lighting in the area, and your injuries.
Witness Information: The names and phone numbers of anyone who saw you fall or who can confirm how long the hazardous condition was present.
Medical Records: A complete file of your doctor’s visits, diagnoses, treatments, and plans for future care. Each year, millions of older adults are treated in emergency departments for fall injuries, making thorough medical documentation a key component of any claim.
Proof of Lost Income: Pay stubs, tax returns, or letters from your employer that demonstrate the time you missed from work and the income you lost as a result.

What Compensation Can You Pursue After a Fall in Hackensack?

No two slip and fall cases are exactly the same, and we can never guarantee a specific financial outcome. The objective, however, is always to pursue the maximum compensation available under New Jersey law to cover the full scope of your losses.

These losses, or “damages,” are typically divided into two main categories: economic and non-economic.

Economic Damages: Your Financial Losses

These are the tangible, out-of-pocket costs associated with your injury. We use receipts, bills, invoices, and employment records to calculate them with precision.

Medical Expenses: This covers everything from the initial ambulance ride and emergency room treatment to ongoing physical therapy, prescription medications, specialist visits, and any surgeries required in the future. Slip and fall accidents contribute to billions in medical costs each year in the U.S., reflecting how serious and expensive these injuries are.
Lost Wages: This provides compensation for the income you lost while you were unable to work during your recovery.
Loss of Earning Capacity: If your injury is severe enough to prevent you from returning to your previous job or limits your ability to earn the same amount of money in the future, we pursue damages for this long-term financial loss.

Non-Economic Damages: The Personal Impact

These damages are meant to compensate you for the ways the injury has affected your quality of life. Though they are harder to assign a dollar value to, they are just as real and just as important as the economic losses.

Pain and Suffering: This compensates for the physical pain and emotional distress caused by the injury itself and the subsequent recovery process.
Loss of Enjoyment of Life: If your injury now prevents you from participating in hobbies, sports, family activities, or daily routines that were once important to your happiness and well-being.

Common Injuries That Arise from Unexpected Falls

A sudden slip sends a tremendous amount of force through the body, leading to injuries that may not feel severe at first but may develop into chronic and debilitating conditions. Statistics from the CDC show that one out of every five falls results in a serious injury, such as a broken bone or a head injury.

What Injuries Require Significant Medical Care?

Our practice focuses on cases involving serious injuries that rewrite every aspect of a person’s life. We frequently handle claims involving:

Fractures: About 5% of falls lead to broken bones, most commonly in the hip, ankle, or wrist. These injuries may require surgery, casts, pins, and months of difficult rehabilitation.
Spinal Cord Injuries: A fall may cause herniated or bulging discs in the neck (cervical spine) and back (lumbar spine).
Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs): Hitting your head during a fall, whether on the floor or an object, may cause concussions or more severe brain injuries. Symptoms like headaches, dizziness, or confusion may not appear for hours or even days.
Soft Tissue Injuries: This category includes severe sprains, strains, and tears to muscles, ligaments, and tendons. While sometimes dismissed as minor, these injuries may cause long-lasting pain, instability, and limitations.

New Jersey’s Two-Year Deadline for Injury Claims

After being injured, your immediate focus is naturally on healing and managing your pain. However, there is a legal clock running in the background that you must be aware of to protect your rights.

What Is the Statute of Limitations?

In New Jersey, you generally have two years from the date of the injury to file a personal injury lawsuit. This strict deadline is known as the statute of limitations, and it is codified in New Jersey Revised Statutes Section 2A:14-2.

If you attempt to file a claim after this two-year window has closed, the court will almost certainly dismiss your case, regardless of how clear the property owner’s negligence was or how severe your injuries are. We advise contacting a law firm sooner rather than later. This provides the necessary time to conduct a thorough investigation, collect evidence while it is still available, and ensure all legal paperwork is filed correctly and on time.

FAQ for When Wet Floor Signs Don’t Protect Hackensack Business Owners

What if I was partially at fault for my fall?

New Jersey uses a “modified comparative negligence” rule. This means you may still recover damages as long as you were not more than 50% responsible for the accident. Your final compensation award would simply be reduced by your percentage of fault.

What if I fell on a government property in Bergen County?

Claims against government bodies have much shorter deadlines and different procedural rules under the New Jersey Tort Claims Act. You must file a formal notice of claim with the correct public entity, typically within 90 days of the injury, before a lawsuit is considered.

Should I give a recorded statement to the store’s insurance company?

We advise against providing a recorded statement without first speaking to a lawyer. The insurance adjuster’s role is to conduct an investigation, looking for any evidence to argue you were at fault or to minimize the value of your claim.

I don’t think I can afford a lawyer. What are the costs?

We, like many personal injury firms, handle these cases on a contingency fee basis. This means you do not pay any attorney’s fees unless we successfully recover compensation for you through a settlement or a court verdict.

The business offered to pay my immediate medical bills. Should I accept?

Be very cautious. Accepting an early offer might require you to sign a release, which is a legal document that waives your right to pursue any future compensation. This could leave you responsible for all future medical costs if your injuries turn out to be more severe than you initially thought.

Don’t Assume a Sign Means You Have No Rights

After a fall, you may be questioning yourself, wondering if you should have been more careful. You might even blame yourself. But a warning sign on the floor does not give a business a free pass to ignore a dangerous condition.

The law requires property owners to take reasonable actions to keep you safe. Our role is to hold them to that standard. We will investigate the full circumstances of your fall to determine if their actions were truly reasonable and pursue the compensation you need to recover fully.

For a straightforward discussion about your slip and fall incident, call Maggiano, DiGirolamo & Lizzi, P.C. at (201) 585-9111.