You go on vacation to relax and enjoy your time off work, so the last thing you would want is to get an injury at the hotel. However, hotel injuries can easily happen if the hotel’s owner is irresponsible and fails to act as a reasonable person should. If you ever get hurt at a hotel because of a mistake from the staff or management, you can recover damages by filing a legal claim against the owner. That way, you can ask the owner to compensate you for your injuries and losses.
Injuries and legal claims
The laws in New Jersey allow a person to file a legal claim against another if they were irresponsible and their irresponsibility caused an injury. This means that you could file a personal injury claim against the owner of a hotel if they knew, or should have known, about a dangerous condition and did nothing to fix it to prevent their clients from getting hurt. Some situations in which you would have the right to file a legal claim are:
- If you slip and fall because the floor is wet or waxed and there is not a sign indicating the danger
- If you fall down the stairs because the carpet is torn or because it lacks a safe railing
- If bed bugs bite you because the room lacks maintenance
- If you get food poisoning in the hotel’s buffet
- If someone hurts you because the hotel lacks security
- If you get a burn because the hotel has defective heaters, lamps or equipment in the food area
- If you get an injury from malfunctioning exercise equipment in the hotel
If something like this happens to you in the future, you must know that you’d have the right to recover your damages by filing a legal claim against the owner. New Jersey law requires you to file a claim no later than two years after the accident or else you will be barred from making a claim.
Proving negligence
For a legal claim to be valid, you must prove that the hotel owner was negligent in some way and their negligence led to your injuries. However, if the court finds that you also had some fault in the accident, they will reduce the amount you’ll receive as compensation according to your percentage of fault in the accident. If you were more than 50% at fault for the accident, you won’t be entitled to compensation.
Workers’ Compensation
If you are staying at a hotel at the direction of and for the benefit of your employer, you may also be entitled to filing a workers’ compensation claim. In this scenario you would not need to prove your employer was negligent, only that your stay in the hotel was directed and related to your employment. You could still have a claim against the hotel owner if your stay was work-related, but that claim would always require a showing of negligence on the hotel owner’s part.
Your lawful compensation
You have the right to ask for damages if you ever get an injury because a hotel’s staff or management acts irresponsibly. By doing this, you’ll be able to get compensation for your medical expenses, lost wages and your pain and suffering. You don’t have to pay for another’s mistake, and you have the right to hold the hotel responsible if they were careless with you as a guest. If you have been injured while staying at a hotel, please contact our office at 973-473-1113 for a free consultation.