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I was coming out of a restaurant and fell off a step at the front door. I fractured my hip from the fall. There was no sign warning patrons of a step. Can I sue the restaurant?

Yes, you may be able to sue the restaurant for the injuries you sustained in your trip and fall accident depending on the fact and circumstances. In Pennsylvania, businesses open to the public, such as restaurants, have a duty to protect their customers from unreasonably dangerous conditions on the premises.

If there is a dangerous condition at the restaurant, such as a broken stairway, the business has a duty to protect its customers and fix the dangerous condition so customers will not get hurt.

In your situation, the step at the doorway may be a dangerous condition not because of the step itself but because there is no warning posted at the door to warn customers of the step’s existence. If there is no warning, customers may lose their balance as they step out the door, miss the step, fall and injure themselves.

The restaurant may be negligent for the following reasons:

having an unsafe step by the door;
failing to warn customers of the unsafe step;
negligently and/or inadequately warning of the unsafe step;
failing to have sufficient employees to monitor/detect potential dangerous conditions by the door.

In order to properly evaluate your trip and fall accident case, we would need to inspect the place where you fell. We would also need to see whether there were sufficient warnings of the step or whether the step was dangerous itself.

Feel free to call my office to schedule a free initial consultation.

We can further discuss the details of your fall and explore your legal rights. You can call us at this number for a free consultation: 877.944.8396.

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Daniel J. O'Brien and White and Williams serve clients in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, including the following areas: Philadelphia, Bucks County, Chester County, Delaware County, Montgomery County, Lehigh County, Luzerne County, Cherry Hill, Trenton, Camden, Morris County, Essex County, Cape May County, Ocean County, Atlantic County, Ocean City.

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