A casino can be a fun place to let loose or de-stress with friends. But your luck may run out if something (or someone) at the casino caused you to fall and suffer physical pain and injury. Body injuries can devastate your health, and medical bills can drain your finances. It may be time to take action and get compensated for your slip and fall.
To have a case, you must prove your fall and body injury is due to the casino’s negligence and that the casino knew about, or should have known about, the condition that caused you to fall.
Typical injuries from these falls include:
- Hip, knee, ankle, and foot injury
- Shoulder, elbow, wrist, and hand injury
- Head injuries and concussion
- Neck or back pain
- Spinal injury
- Broken bones
- Difficulty walking, standing, climbing stairs, sitting
- Any other injuries that require medical treatment
Casinos are sophisticated. They know the law and they already have lawyers working for them. Like the slot machines, a casino’s goal when an injury occurs on premises is to limit their financial risk. That means their goal is to hurt your potential case, and keep you from recovering damages to pay for your medical expenses, lost wages, and other damages. If you fell at a casino and were hurt, you should contact a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible so that you can have a lawyer working for you as well. There are steps you should take right away to protect your interests.
What to do.
Get medical attention
If you fell at a casino, it is important that you get medical attention immediately. It is important for your recovery and if you wait too long, the casino could try and use it to their advantage by making it seem like you are not hurt, or that you were hurt by something or someone else.
Go to your medical appointments and continue to treat with your doctors or other medical professionals. Repeatedly going to doctor appointments can be frustrating, especially if it does not seem to be helping you get better. But it is important that you work hard to recover and continue to go to treatment until your medical providers tell you to stop. If there are long periods where you are not making your appointments, the casino could try and use your frustration against you by saying that your injuries are not as bad as they really are.
Document everything.
Document every step of the way. Get pictures or video of the scene and your injuries. Take pictures or video of the dangerous condition that caused your fall (liquid or other substance on the ground, unmarked step, dangerous rail, etc.) Put together a list of witnesses that are there who can verify the reason for your fall. Keep a file of all your bills and medical records to prove financial loss related to the fall.
Remember that if the casino knows about your fall, they will probably take a statement from you as part of their investigation. They might try to ruin your case by getting you to admit things that could hurt your case later. Be polite, but careful not to let them manipulate your words.
File a complaint with the casino.
As soon as possible, file a formal complaint to the casino. As with the statement discussed above, any contact with the casino is an opportunity for their personnel to try and hurt your potential future case. They are trained to perform investigations in a way that helps the casino. So again, do not let them manipulate your words. If they give you problems, contact a personal injury lawyer right away.
Get the casino’s response to your complaint in writing and keep proper documentation of your interactions with them.
Request preservation of all evidence including video surveillance
The Casino’s claim representative will gather all information, including the taking of statements from witnesses in an effort to gather the facts favorable to defend the Casino’s actions.
Video surveillance may be the best evidence of what happened and how it happened. Most videos are not electronically saved forever. Request this evidence in writing right away.
And it is essential that you or your attorney demand the Casino preserve all videos and other evidence
Go to court.
If the casino has not offered to fully compensate you for your losses, you can take your evidence, proof, and the casino to court by filing a lawsuit. Remember that in Louisiana, you only have one year from the day you slip and fall to file a lawsuit against the casino. If you wait any longer, you will not be able to seek recovery against the casino for your damages.
You are in control. Your decisions early on will determine how easy or difficult it is to receive financial compensation for your injuries.
If you slipped and fell in a Louisiana casino, contact Stag Liuzza for a free consultation.
