Connecticut premises liability is part of personal injury law, governing how a victim can seek compensation for an injury resulting from a property hazard.
Whether you’re the victim of a property hazard accident or you’re the property owner after someone was injured, it’s important to know Connecticut’s liability laws for premises liability.
If you’re one of the 3.6 million people who live in the Constitution State, you might be interested in knowing its laws for what happens if you’re injured due to a property hazard. Alternately, if you’re a homeowner or business owner, you might need or want to know your own liability if someone else is hurt on your property.
Let’s look at both a plaintiff’s arguments and the defenses to a Connecticut premises liability lawsuit.
What is Connecticut premises liability law?
Premises liability falls under the scope of personal injury law. In general, personal injury law is designed to make an injured person financially whole, which means restoring them to the financial condition they would be in if the injury hadn’t happened.
This happens in the event of a defendant’s negligence, which means the defendant had a duty to the plaintiff. The defendant breached their duty by failing to take reasonable care to avoid harm or injury to the plaintiff. The plaintiff became injured because of that breach and the injury had a financial cost.
Premises liability refers specifically to an injury that happened from a property hazard. Some typical examples of premises liability lawsuits include (but are not limited to):
- Falling tree branches
- Broken steps, sidewalks, handrails, etc.
- Holes in the ground, slippery surfaces, or unevenness
Types of damages in a Connecticut premises liability lawsuit
If you are a victim injured by a Connecticut property hazard, you’re likely wondering who’s liable and how much they have to pay for your injuries.
In general, a plaintiff in a premises liability claim can recover the following damages:
- Medical treatment, including surgery, hospital stays, doctor visits, prescription medication, diagnostics like X-rays or MRI, and other related expenses;
- Lost wages for the time you were out of work recovering from the injury;
- Loss of earning capacity if the injury left you disabled or unable to work permanently, or if it prevents you from continuing in the role you had prior to the accident;
- Pain and suffering or emotional distress if the accident left you with trauma or loss of function;
- Wrongful death, which would provide damages to the survivors of a person who dies from a premises liability accident; and
- Punitive damages, which are intended to punish the defendant if there is a reckless indifference to the safety and rights of another person or an intentional violation of their rights.
Determining liability in a Connecticut premises liability lawsuit
Liability for a Connecticut premises liability lawsuit begins with why the injured person was on the property. A person injured in a property accident falls into one of three categories: invitee, licensee, or trespasser.
| Status | Purpose | Duty |
|---|---|---|
| Invitee | Expressly or impliedly invited onto the premises for their own purposes. This would include a customer entering a store, a person using facilities at a public park, mail carrier, etc. | The owner must take every reasonable precaution to ensure the invitee is safe on the property. |
| Licensee | Enters for their own purposes, but with the property owner’s consent. For example, a social guest. | The owner must warn of any danger but isn’t necessarily required to fix a hazard. |
| Trespasser | Not legally permitted to be on the property, and is present without the owner’s knowledge. | The owner has a duty not to cause intentional harm to a trespasser. |
The attractive nuisance doctrine
The rules change a little regarding children injured on the premises. A property owner could have a higher duty to a child, even if the child is a trespasser. Children aren’t expected to have the same level of common sense as adults, and they also lack impulse control.
Therefore, if there’s a possibility that a child could wander onto the property or find their way there for some reason, the owner has a duty to make sure that any feature that might be appealing to a child is kept reasonably safe.
For instance, this is why Connecticut law requires a homeowner to have a four-foot-high fence around a swimming pool. A pool, lawnmowing equipment, discarded refrigerators, piles of rocks, big holes, or almost anything could be enticing for a child to want to climb or play on.
Therefore, if there is any reasonable possibility that a child could enter the property—even without the owner’s knowledge—they must take precautions to ensure that it’s safe.
Proving liability in a Connecticut premises liability lawsuit
In most instances, the plaintiff (injured person) must prove that the dangerous condition existed on the property and that the owner knew or should reasonably have been aware of it.
The plaintiff must also prove that the property owner or occupier had a reasonable opportunity to correct or remedy the hazard. For example, if a customer slips on snow in the walkway while entering a store during a snowstorm, the shop owner could argue that they did not have reasonable opportunity to clear the snow since it was still falling.
Defenses to a Connecticut premises liability lawsuit
Comparative fault
Connecticut follows the modified comparative fault rule, also known as the 51% rule. That means if the plaintiff has contributed to their own injury by 51% or more, they can’t recover any damages. If they had less than 51% of responsibility, then they could recover damages reduced according to the percentage of their liability.
In other words, consider this example: The shop owner did make a reasonable effort to clear the walkway of snow in the midst of a storm. However, since the snow was still falling, there was an obvious coating on the ground. What the owner didn’t do is make sure that the floor inside the store was dry after people going in and out with wet shoes.
The customer was in a hurry and was running, also while wearing high heels with no traction on the soles. After slipping on the wet floor and breaking a bone, she filed a lawsuit against the shop owner, claiming he was negligent because he should have realized the tile floor would be wet from the outside and did not dry it fast enough or place a warning sign for customers.
It would then be up to the court to decide that although the shop owner was liable for keeping the indoor floor dry, or placing warning signs for customers about a potential hazard, perhaps it was not reasonable for the shopper to be running in heels on a tile floor when entering the building on a snowy day. If the court determines that the plaintiff contributed to her own injury by 40%, for instance, they would reduce the amount of damages by that much. If the court determines that she was 52% at fault for her injury, then she would not recover any damages at all.
Assumption of risk
The most typical example of assuming risk is participating in sports. If a person is injured while participating in an abnormally dangerous activity, the court will likely determine that they assumed the risk of that activity. Therefore, they are unlikely to recover damages in a premises liability lawsuit.
If you were injured in a Connecticut premises liability accident, or if you are the defendant in a lawsuit for premises liability, you can contact a personal injury lawyer for advice and guidance.
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What does an injury lawyer do?
A personal injury lawyer helps individuals who have sustained injuries in accidents to recover financial compensation. These funds are often needed to pay for medical treatment, make up for lost wages and provide compensation for injuries suffered. Sometimes a case that seems simple at first may become more complicated. In these cases, consider hiring an experienced personal injury lawyer. Read more
