Dear Mirror Lawyer, I live in Cape Coast in the Central Region of Ghana. Two months ago, my friend and I visited a nearby supermarket to purchase some groceries for her house.
We didn’t have to stay long there since all the items she wanted were readily available.
The entrance to the supermarket was different from the exit door. While moving towards the exit door, I slipped and injured my left arm.
I realised that the tiled floor on that side was wet, but there was no caution sign displayed.
One of the sales attendants quickly rushed to assist me and explained that the cleaners had just finished mopping the place.
I had to be taken to the hospital immediately because of the pain I suffered in my left arm. Unfortunately, I had to undergo a surgical operation because of an internal fracture resulting from the fall.
I spent so much money and time at the hospital and was discharged one month ago.
Throughout my stay at the hospital, not a single person from the supermarket visited me.
Four weeks ago, I went there to see the owners and explained everything I had gone through to them.
I humbly requested them to give me some money to cater for part of my medical expenses, but they bluntly refused, claiming that, since none of them pushed me down, they are not responsible.
Do I have any remedy at law?
Grace Mensah
Cape Coast
Dear Grace,
I sympathise with you for the injury and pain you have gone through. The facts you have narrated fall within an area of law known as occupiers' liability or negligence in relation to premises. It is under the Law of Torts.
Every occupier of premises owes a duty of care to various categories of people who enter the premises. An occupier is defined as anyone who is in occupation or control of the premises.
The extent of duty owed by the occupier is, however, dependent on the character of the entrant.
The law categorises entrants into two main groups- lawful and unlawful entrants. Unlawful entrants are known as trespassers.
Lawful entrants are divided into four main groups- Invitees, Contractual visitors, Licensees and persons who enter as of right.
An invitee is a person who enters premises for a purpose in which they and the occupier have a mutual economic, material or business interest. Thus, a person who enters premises to do business with the occupier or a person both permitted to enter and whose entry is in the interest of the occupier is an invitee.
The duty owed by occupiers to invitees is the duty to take reasonable care to prevent injury to the invitee from unusual danger of which the occupier knows or ought to know.
The occupier discharges this duty if he warns the invitees by giving them reasonable notice of the danger.
Where an occupier fails to give notice of danger to the invitee and the invitee suffers any injury as a result of the danger, the occupier is liable in tort for that injury and the invitee may be entitled to compensation.
Situating your set of facts in the position of the law above, you qualified as an invitee when you entered the shop for the purpose of buying items.
It was, therefore, the duty of the occupiers, in this case the owners, to warn you through their workers of anything capable of causing harm to you.
Their failure to do so constituted a breach of duty, which will provide grounds for legal action under the law of tort.
You may, therefore, contact a lawyer to institute an action against the owners for breach of the duty of care owed to you and claim damages for your injuries and loss.
