Ms Jones's slip and fall injury at The Wonderful Supermarket

TWS Liability

Ms. Jones slipping on a banana peel on her way into the Wonderful Supermarket is unfortunate. While there are factors that make TWS look negligent, this case is far from simple in that Ms. Jones at least partially contributed to her own injury and the fact she suffered very similar injuries just six months prior complicates what can be attributed to TWS and what is attributable to the prior accident.

Problems for Ms. Jones

There are a couple of facts and circumstances that do not help Ms. Jones' case against TWS. First, the fact that she is near-sighted and that she took her glasses off after she parked her car but before she made entry into the supermarket raises the idea that she would have clearly seen the banana peel had she had her glasses on. Another factor that does not help Ms. Jones is that she suffered a very similar injury just six months prior to the TWS incident. This could lead people to believe that the removal of her glasses might have contributed to that accident as well and/or that she is accident-prone. Also, it would be much easier to suggest that the currently existing aches and pains are at least in part from the prior accident.

Problems for TWS

Even with the issues noted above, TWS does not have a clear path to escape liability for Ms. Jones' accident. First, the banana peel in question was brown. This would indicate that the banana peel was there for a while since that indicates rot and this would suggest that the cleaning crew missed the peel during their 9 a.m. pass through the lot, if not beyond that time frame. Since TWS hired the cleaning crew, they would likely be held liable for the actions or inactions of the subcontractor. It would depend on what indemnification contract exists between TWS and the cleaning crew ("Why subcontractors need,"2003)

Also, the fact that the peel was "squished" indicates that at least one other party stepped or rolled over the peel prior to Ms. Jones stepping on it. These two facts contribute to the question as to why no employee of TWS noticed the peel in the entranceway. Surely, TWS has to send people outside to get shopping carts or assist customers to their cars. If the peel was still the customary yellow and was not squished, that would indicate the peel was just dropped minutes ago. However, the facts as they do exist do not favor TWS all that much.

Verdict

What is clear from the facts above is that both Ms. Jones and TWS, both in their own ways, contributed to the accident. The verdict for this case would depend on what state the case is being tried in. If the case is being held in Alabama, Washington DC, Maryland, North Carolina or Virginia, the ruling would have to be for TWS and against Ms. Jones because those states follow the rule of contributory negligence ("Car accident defenses:," 2012). What this would mean to Ms. Jones is that if she is at fault in any way, she would be unable to recover any damages from TWS.