Under Premises liability laws property owners and commercial businesses including movie theaters and multiplexes must ensure safe premises for patrons and moviegoers. If you have been injured in movie theaters due to negligent conduct of property owners or manager our law firm can help you recover from your injuries. Our goal is to ensure you the maximum possible recovery for your injuries.
Movie theaters must provide safe pedestrian walkways. Floors of the movie theater as well as bathrooms and the main lobby should not be slippery and wet, and need to be regularly cleaned and dried to prevent falls.
Some of the main causes of accidents and injuries in movie theaters include:
- Improper sanitation – Bacterial infections are always a threat when uncleanliness is involved. Most bacteria are harmless, but the dangerous ones can thrive in unclean environments. Clean bathrooms, clean soda fountains, ice containers, condiments, and more need to be properly cleaned for movie theaters to avoid negligent behavior.
- Unclean floors – Trip and fall accidents occur when there are obstacles on the floors. When people do not see these, it can cause them to trip and sustain serious injury.
- Failure to routinely dry wet floors – Slip and fall injuries are dangerous because the person usually never suspects a lack of friction when they step. Failure to put signs warning people of wet floors, and mopping to clean the spill can result in avoidable accidents. When movie theaters do not take action to dry wet floors, they are acting negligently
- Falling objects – Lightbulbs, tiles, movie posters, and other cinematic ornaments need to be properly fastened. If they are not, they can fall on a customer and case serious injury. A movie theater needs to be aware of everything that can cause potential harm. If they do not take reasonable action to prevent objects from falling, they could be held liable.
- Inadequate security – Due to the unfortunate nature of the U.S., mass shootings occur frequently. It is up to the theater to provide the necessary security to the customers and prevent attacks on its patrons.
- Failure to maintain premises – The premises needs to be maintained at a proper level of safety. This means clean of rust, loose tiles, flimsy carpeting, proper parking lot, entrance, emergency exits, and more. If the premise is not maintained properly and you get injured, the movie theater could be held liable and you could be awarded compensation.
- Lack of properly lighted exits – In case of emergency, most establishments require that emergency lights kick in to guide customers out of the facility. If there are no proper lights, then the establishment could be held accountable for the damages brought on by the lack of light.
Common Injuries associated with movie theatre accident include:
- Falling debris causing head injuries
- Slip and fall injuries
- Traumatic brain injury
- Facial lacerations
- Broken bones
- Skull fractures
- Hand and Wrist injuries
Premises Liability Laws: Recovery for a Theater Accident Claim
Landowner or possessors liability varies greatly depending upon the classification of the victim. Invitee: An invitee is owed the highest duty of care. They are any individual who is either expressly or impliedly invited to another person’s premises for their mutual benefit. Licensee: Any individual who enters the premises at the owner or possessors consent for a non-business or commercial purpose. The most common example is a social guest. In order to recover as a licensee, a victim must establish (all three):- The owner or possessor knew or should have known of the dangerous condition, and should have known that it created an unreasonable risk of harm, and likewise should have known that the plaintiff would fail to discover the dangerous condition
- The owner or possessor did not make the condition safe or failed to warn the licensee of the condition
- The licensee did not know of the dangerous condition or the risks involved
Compensating for your loss: If you have been hurt in a theater accident you may be able to recover damages for
- Medical costs resulting from hospital and emergency room care, physical therapy, ambulance costs and rehabilitation
- Future medical care
- Loss or income and future earnings
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional and psychological damages
- Punitive damages where the property owners displayed reckless behavior or gross negligence
- Loss of consortium
Most Popular Movie Theaters in the U.S.
- AMC Theaters
- Regal Entertainment Group
- Cinemark USA
- Cineplex Entertainment LP
- Marcus Theatres Corp.
- Harkins Theatres
- Southern Theatres LLC
- B&B Theatres
- National Amusements, Inc.
- Malco Theatres, Inc.