What Must Be Shown Under North Carolina Law
Most store slip-and-fall cases in North Carolina are built on negligence. In plain English, you generally need to show the store failed to act with reasonable care and that failure caused your injuries.
Key Requirements
- Duty: A retail store must use reasonable care to keep areas open to customers reasonably safe and to warn about hidden dangers the store knows about (or should discover through reasonable inspection).
- Breach: The store did something unsafe (like creating the spill) or failed to do something reasonable (like inspecting, cleaning, blocking off the area, or warning) after it had actual or constructive notice of the puddle.
- Causation: The puddle caused the fall, and the fall caused the injuries you’re claiming (often supported by timing, symptoms, and medical documentation).
- Damages: The harm you suffered, such as medical expenses, lost income, and pain and suffering.
Evidence That Commonly Helps
- Timeline evidence (to prove notice): Anything showing how long the puddle was there—surveillance video, witness observations (e.g., “it was there when I walked by earlier”), or employee statements about when the area was last checked.
- Incident report details: What was recorded about the location, size/appearance of the puddle, whether warning cones/signs were present, and which employees responded. Incident reports can be helpful, but they don’t automatically prove fault.
- Employee involvement: If an employee saw the spill earlier, walked past it, was assigned to monitor the area, or was actively working in that aisle, that can support actual notice or a failure to inspect.
- Photos/video from the scene: Pictures of the puddle, footprints or cart tracks through it, the surrounding area, and any missing warning signs. These details can help show the condition existed long enough that it should have been addressed.
- Store policies and cleaning logs (when available): Inspection schedules, sweep logs, and training policies can help show what the store says it does versus what happened that day.
- Medical timing (high-level): Records showing when symptoms started and what you reported early on can help connect the fall to the injuries (especially with head-impact symptoms like feeling dazed or dizzy).
Common Defenses & Pitfalls
- “We didn’t know about it”: Stores often argue the spill happened moments before the fall. That’s why constructive notice evidence (how long it was there) matters.
- “It was open and obvious”: The store may claim you should have seen and avoided the puddle. In North Carolina, this can be a major issue because the defense may argue you failed to use reasonable care for your own safety.
- Contributory negligence (North Carolina): North Carolina generally follows a strict contributory negligence rule. If the defense convinces a jury you were negligent and that contributed to the fall, it can bar recovery. That makes it especially important to document lighting, distractions, aisle layout, and why a reasonable shopper might not have noticed the hazard in time.
- Evidence disappears quickly: Spills get cleaned up, video gets overwritten, and witnesses leave. Delays can make proof harder.
- Inconsistent statements: Small inconsistencies about where you fell, what you slipped on, or what you felt afterward can be used to challenge credibility. Clear, consistent documentation helps.
How This Applies
Apply to these facts: Because an employee appeared to witness the fall and helped complete an incident report, that creates a starting point for proving what happened and who responded. The next proof focus is usually the notice timeline: whether the store created the puddle (for example, from stocking/cleaning activity) or whether it was there long enough that reasonable inspections should have found it. While medical bills and records are being requested, it also helps to preserve any photos, identify witnesses, and request that any surveillance video from the area be preserved before it is overwritten.
What the Statutes Say (Optional)
- N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-299.1 (Contributory negligence; burden of proof in Industrial Commission claims) – This statute addresses contributory negligence as a defense in certain claims against State agencies; in everyday store cases, contributory negligence is still a central defense issue under North Carolina law.
Conclusion
To prove a store was responsible for a puddle in North Carolina, you typically need evidence the store created the spill or had enough notice of it to clean it up or warn customers. The most important pieces are often the timeline (video, witnesses, inspection logs), scene documentation, and consistent medical records tying the fall to your injuries. One practical next step is to preserve and organize any evidence you already have (photos, incident report details, witness contact info) and discuss it promptly with a licensed North Carolina attorney.
