There's nothing especially sinister about Wendy's fast food locations. In fact, any restaurant can be risky for a slip and fall accident because such danger is inherent to any place that prepares and serves food. However, fast-food chains may be a little more dangerous because of the nature of the food and the heavy-foot traffic of staff and customers.
For example, the back end of a fast-food restaurant may be saturated in greasy oil and food debris that can easily be tracked out to the guest area when staff goes to deliver food, clean, and check the facility. Still, the property owner should be aware of these dangers and take steps to mitigate the likelihood of this happening.
Preventative steps may include having carpet runners that have the capacity to catch the bulk of debris while staff travels to and from the customer area and scheduled maintenance of the facility. With so many people coming and going and often self-serving fountain beverages and condiments, it's foreseeable that liquid will get spilled, and condiments will fall on the floor and get crushed by foot traffic.
A responsible property owner will also have staff frequently mop the floors to clean up messes. However, they have a duty of care to warn customers of the slippery conditions by putting out wet floor warning signs. Likewise, the bathrooms can get quite messy from all of the customers washing their hands. Suppose the store manager knows they have run out of paper towels and doesn’t replace the item. In that case, it's foreseeable that areas around the sinks will quickly become wet and unmanageable, leading to a slip-and-fall accident.
Even the layout of the restaurant can introduce hazards if there are spills or debris on the floor. For example, fast-food restaurants often pack in as many tables and chairs as possible to ensure customers have plenty of seating and to increase the potential for revenue. However, this type of overcrowding makes pathways narrow and difficult to navigate, especially if there is a hazard on the floor.
Most successful fast-food restaurants are so because they serve good food and provide a clean dining area. Wendy's is no different. In fact, they announce that the cleanliness of their facilities is a goal to enhance the customer experience. This proclamation is also a sort of admission of liability when a failure to maintain a clean environment leads to a slip and fall in Wendy's
Finally, slip, and falls are only sometimes caused by uncleanliness or debris. A restaurant may have an issue with the facility's structure that leads to a slip-and-fall accident. For example, the sidewalk or the parking lot may be in disrepair. Cracks, potholes, and uneven surfaces could easily cause someone to lose their footing. If you heft yourself up using a broken table, you may lose your balance because you expected it to be stable. A leaky toilet may cause you to take a spill in the bathroom, or a leaking outdoor faucet may create an ice hazard on a sidewalk during the winter months. Poor outdoor lighting coupled with an unmarked curb could send you flying to the pavement.
The potential for hazards abounds in a restaurant. Although most reasonable managers in charge of premises that serve food will take ample steps to mitigate dangers, some could be lackadaisical, resulting in customer injury. Under the right circumstances, you can make a claim for any injury you suffer as a result of negligence. Here's how.