Chair Collapse Injury Attorney

For those who sit on chairs every day, it’s hard to imagine how the experience can go wrong. However, we’re here to report that this is a common problem. All over the country, Americans are injured by faulty chairs, damaged chairs, and other chair-related problems.

At home, if somebody falls off their chair, it normally leads to laughter before everyone continues with their evening. Unfortunately, not everybody can laugh after a chair accident and we’ve seen people experience herniated intervertebral discs, broken bones, sprained wrists, and heavy bruising. If you experienced a chair injury in a commercial building, we highly advise getting in touch with The Injury Firm because you could be entitled to compensation.

1998 Chair Accident Case

If you’re worried about the potential of your case, know that plenty of people before you have claimed successfully against businesses after a chair accident. For example, perhaps one of the most high-profile cases came in 1998 (Fontana vs Wilson World Maingate). While sitting on a faulty chair, Fontana fell while in the hotel and injured herself. With the help of a personal injury attorney, she filed a case against the chain.

Initially, the defense claimed that it couldn’t have known about the faulty chair. After a trial judge agreed, the case was taken to the appellate court, and the decision was reversed. The court said that it became apparent that the hotel hadn’t checked the chair for some time and didn’t have a system for doing so. The 5th District Court of Appeal knew this because, under the chair, somebody found a pair of scissors containing rust.

Immediately after, the judge ordered a new trial, and this shows the seriousness of chair accident cases. If you’ve been injured after sitting in a faulty chair on commercial premises, don’t waste any time - get in touch for a free case evaluation with the experts at The Injury Firm.

Examples of Faulty Chair Accidents

Where might you experience a chair injury?

Hotel - One common example, and we saw it in the 1998 case above, is a hotel. When staying at a hotel, you expect high-quality facilities and an experience you don’t get while at home. Unfortunately, you might experience a faulty chair in the bar, the room, or somewhere else around the hotel.

Restaurant - As you would expect, chairs in restaurants undergo heavy usage. With this in mind, the managers and owners have a responsibility to check the condition of all chairs regularly. After spotting damage, they should either pay for a repair or take the chair away from public areas. With several people sitting on the chairs daily, managers and staff should check for loose screws, damaged cushions, bent legs, weakened structures, jagged edges, snapped features, and other problems.

Bar - In addition to bars, cafes and coffee shops also fall into this category. These establishments are more likely to have tall chairs where the structure is designed to prevent a fall from quite some height. As soon as a problem occurs, these chairs need attention, or else a patron could experience a chair injury.

Office - So far, we’ve focused on common meeting spots. However, even when attending a meeting with a business, it still has a responsibility to keep you safe while in the building, and this extends to a safe chair. Otherwise, it could face a premise liability case. A common problem with office chairs comes with the wheels - as soon as they come loose, the unstable nature can cause accidents.

Theater/Sports Arena - When attending a theatre or sports arena, you expect to be entertained by what happens on the stage, court, or field. Due to the mechanical nature of some chairs, they need more maintenance than most. Also, they spring back as soon as weight is lifted. Sadly, this means that people get their arms and legs trapped; chairs with reclining features have additional dangers.

Hair Salon - Finally, we also trust the chairs in a hair salon, beauty salon, or similar establishment. Much like in a theatre, these often have mechanical elements to help the professional. If the chair isn’t maintained, it can collapse, fall, and break in other ways. Of course, there’s also a risk that comes with the footrest. When wet or damaged, the foot can slip while climbing in/out of the chair and the patron falls.

Common Injuries from a Chair Injury

Ultimately, the extent of the injury depends on the type of accident. One of the biggest problems with a faulty chair is that people don’t see it coming; therefore, they can’t prepare or embrace before a fall. While some people break/damage fingers on jagged edges, others break bones when falling from a height.

Other injuries include fractures, bone breaks, lacerations, sprains and strains, spinal cord damage, neck damage, and back damage. In serious cases, the individual is left with a permanent disability.

Obtaining Compensation After a Chair Injury

Do you have a case? Well, this all depends on the type of accident. For example, you won’t have access to compensation if you were using the chair incorrectly or if you caused the accident in another way. If you were an innocent victim, you could have a premises liability case, and a personal injury attorney will help you to claim.

In premises liability claims, it’s important to prove that the establishment either knew about the faulty chair or should have known. What does this mean? We mentioned the responsibility of the business to maintain chairs, so a chair left damaged for several weeks suggests a failure in this duty of care. Don’t worry, The Injury Firm helps to prove negligent maintenance.

As well as the establishment, some cases see victims pursuing legal action against the chair manufacturer. In these cases, the business is just as innocent as the victim. For instance, you might discover a defect in design or production. Fortunately, product liability laws protect the public by holding companies responsible when they fail to meet safety regulations and standards.

Dealing with a Chair Accident

After experiencing a chair accident, your priority is to seek medical attention. You’ve probably heard it before, but there are two reasons why this is important:

• You get the care and attention your injuries need
• The resulting paperwork proves the extent of your injuries (the defense can’t downplay the damage)

If possible, take photos of the damaged chair, speak with eyewitnesses, and ensure that the company completes an accident report. If you can’t do this, get somebody you’re with to take these steps.

From here, contact a personal injury attorney and they’ll start the journey towards a premises liability case. The professionals at The Injury Firm are passionate about helping victims and this includes gathering evidence, speaking with eyewitnesses and getting statements, and protecting your legal rights.

If successful, the claim/case will recover medical bills (including medication and hospital costs), pain and suffering, lost income, and other damages. As you may have noticed, your claim may include both economic and non-economic damages. The best route to this compensation is legal representation, and the best legal representation comes from The Injury Firm.

We offer a free case evaluation, and you won’t pay a thing until the case is resolved – and only if we win.  If we don’t win, you owe nothing!!