If you slip or trip on spilled food in a restaurant aisle in California and are injured, you may have a valid personal injury claim under the state’s premises liability law—but only if certain conditions are met.
🍽️ Spilled Food in Restaurant Aisles – California Injury Case Overview
🔹 1. Can You Sue a Restaurant?
Yes, if you can show the restaurant was negligent in maintaining safe conditions, leading to your injury. This includes failing to clean up food spills or warn patrons in a timely way.
🔹 2. What You Must Prove
To win a premises liability case in California, you must establish:
- A Dangerous Condition Existed
- Food was spilled in an area where customers walk (like an aisle or near a buffet, server station, or entrance).
- Notice (This is critical in restaurant cases):
- The restaurant knew about the spill (actual notice), or
- The spill was there long enough that staff should have known (constructive notice).
- Failure to Act Reasonably
- No one cleaned the spill, posted a warning sign, or blocked off the area in time.
- Injury and Causation
- You fell due to the spill and suffered an injury (e.g., sprain, fracture, concussion).
🔹 3. How Notice Is Usually Proven
- Time-stamped surveillance footage
- Witness testimony (e.g., another guest saw the spill 20 minutes earlier)
- Lack of inspection or cleaning logs
- Size or appearance of the spill (e.g., dried or smeared food = there for a while)
🔹 4. Common Defenses Restaurants Use
- “It just happened” – the spill occurred moments before the fall, and they didn’t have time to react.
- Comparative fault – arguing you weren’t watching where you were going or were distracted.
💡 California follows pure comparative negligence rules, so even if you were partially at fault, you can still recover damages—your award would just be reduced by your percentage of fault.
🔹 5. Types of Evidence That Strengthen Your Case
- Photos of the spill and area
- Incident report filed with the manager
- Surveillance footage
- Statements from employees or other patrons
- Medical records showing the injury
🔹 6. Damages You Can Recover
- Medical expenses (ER, follow-up care, physical therapy)
- Lost wages and lost earning potential
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress (especially with long-term injuries)
🕒 Time Limit to Sue (Statute of Limitations)
- 2 years from the date of injury
- It’s best to act quickly while evidence (like video footage) still exists
✅ Example:
If a customer spills salsa on the floor in a busy aisle, and it remains there for 15 minutes without cleanup, and you slip and injure your back—and the restaurant had no cleaning procedure or staff nearby—you likely have a solid personal injury case.
Law Offices of James R. Dickinson – 909-848-8448
How To Schedule A Consultation:
Please call us at 909-848-8448 to schedule a free consultation/case evaluation or complete the form immediately below. [Please note certain formalities must be completed to retain the Law Offices of James R. Dickinson, such as the signing of a legal fee agreement [see “Disclaimers”]].