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25 Santa Clara L. Rev. 591 (1985)
Reducing the Slipperiness of Slip and Fall Litigation: Establishing Strict Liability for Hotels

handle is hein.journals/saclr25 and id is 605 raw text is: COMMENTS REDUCING THE SLIPPERINESS OF SLIP AND FALL LITIGATION: ESTABLISHING STRICT LIABILITY FOR HOTELS I. INTRODUCTION Slip and fall. To those not involved in the legal field this term may evoke humorous images of a hapless victim in a vaudeville sketch who slips on a banana peel, skids across the stage and is left sprawling in front of the audience-with the only real harm being the injury to his dignity. In real life, however, slip and fall accidents rarely afford such comic relief; injuries are often quite serious1 and legal relief, if sought, is often difficult to attain. Although slip and fall accidents involving business premises are among the most frequently recurring premises-liability cases,2 a plaintiff who decides to bring a tort action against the owner or oc- cupier of business premises must be aware of the difficult hurdles he will encounter in presenting his case. The usual claim in slip and fall cases is based on negligence, which requires an initial determina- tion that the defendant breached his duty of care toward the plaintiff and caused of the plaintiff's injury.3 The difficulty with the traditional reliance on the negligence theory of liability in slip and fall claims is the tremendous proof burden involved in establishing such a claim- even assuming a duty on the part of the defendant toward the plaintiff. For instance, in the banana peel example it will not suffice for the plaintiff to merely show that he slipped on the banana peel, fell, and was thereby in- jured.5 In most instances, the plaintiff must establish that the defen- © 1985 by Geneva Wong Ebisu 1. Falls are the second leading cause of accidental death, ranking behind motor vehicle fatalities and ahead of fire and burn fatalities. AMERICAN RED CROSS, STANDARD FIRST AID AND PERSONAL SAFETY 221-22 (2d ed. 1979); PETER ARNOLD, EMERGENCY HANDBOOK 221 (1980). 2. J. PAGE, THE LAW OF PREMISES LIABILITY § 7.1 (1976). 3. See generally W. PROSSER, HANDBOOK OF THE LAW OF TORTS 143 (4th ed. 1971). 4. Id. at 385-98. 5. See, e.g., Tyrell v. Sears, Roebuck and Co., 392 F.2d 868 (1968).

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