A Premises Liability Case Involving An Exhibitor Injured At A Trade Show

Premises liability lawyers protect both business invitees and licensees who get injured at places of business, but the protections are stronger for invitees.  At first, the difference between an invitee and a licensee is clear; invitees are customers, so their visit to the place of business conveys financial benefit to the business, but not to the invitees.  Licensees, by contrast, are vendors; they are visiting the place of business in order to make money for themselves.  Because they have the business owner’s permission to be there, they are not trespassers.  They are also not employees of the business; the laws that protect employees are workers’ compensation laws, not premises liability laws.  When a licensee gets injured at a place of business, he or she can file a premises liability lawsuit against the company, but what happens if the licensee gets injured in the parking lot of the place of business?  If you got injured in an accident at a place of business where you were a licensee, contact a Columbia premises liability lawyer.

Court Rules That the City Should Have Known About Pot Hole in Convention Center Parking Lot

In 2014, a woman who was attending a trade show at a convention center in Myrtle Beach in order to staff an exhibit for her company tripped on a pot hole in the parking lot of the convention center while carrying materials from her car to her display booth.  She suffered several bone fractures, including both wrists and one elbow.  At first glance, it sounds like a simple case of premises liability, but when her lawsuit went to trial, the trial court ordered a directed verdict in favor of the City of Myrtle Beach.  The appeals court reversed the ruling, enabling the plaintiff to resume the lawsuit.

Several legal ambiguities plagued this case.  First, was the parking lot the responsibility of the convention center or the city?  Early in the pretrial phase, the parties determined that the parking lot was the city’s responsibility, so the plaintiff dropped the lawsuit against the convention center.  Second, was the plaintiff a licensee or an invitee?  The trial court classified her as a licensee, since her purpose for attending the convention was to attract business from prospective clients.  The appeals court, however, classified her as an invitee, since she had paid to rent a booth at the trade show.  Furthermore, she had traveled from out of town to do so, which made her a business invitee both of the convention center and of the City of Myrtle Beach.  The court also determined that, since the parking lot experienced heavy traffic from commercial trucks, and since the pot hole had been present long enough to accumulate debris, the city reasonably should have known that it was there.

Let Us Help You Today

The personal injury lawyers at the Stanley Law Group can help you if you got injured while visiting South Carolina for work.  Contact The Stanley Law Group in Columbia, South Carolina or call (803)799-4700 for a free initial consultation.

Sources:

scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=14640090867965550583&q=premises+liability&hl=en&as_sdt=4,41&as_ylo=2014&as_yhi=2024