Alabama Slip & Fall — Premises Liability Claims

Premises liability in Alabama holds property owners and occupiers responsible when unsafe conditions on their property cause injury to visitors. These cases — slip and falls, inadequate security, defective conditions, dog bites — are among the most common personal injury claims, but they are harder to prove than many people expect.

The duty owed by a property owner depends on the status of the person who was injured. Alabama recognizes the traditional common-law categories:

• Invitees (customers, business visitors, anyone on the property for the owner's benefit) — the owner owes the highest duty: to inspect the property for hazards, remedy dangerous conditions, and warn of known risks. Retail stores, restaurants, offices, and apartment common areas typically involve invitee status.
• Licensees (social guests, people on the property with permission but not for the owner's commercial benefit) — the owner must warn of known hidden dangers but is not required to inspect for unknown hazards.
• Trespassers — generally, the owner owes only the duty not to willfully or wantonly injure. The major exception is the attractive nuisance doctrine, which imposes a higher duty when the property contains conditions likely to attract children (swimming pools, construction sites, abandoned equipment).

Under Alabama's pure Contributory negligence rule, any fault on the injured person's part — even 1% — can bar the entire claim. In premises cases, the defense will argue you were distracted, wearing inappropriate footwear, ignored warning signs, walked through a barricaded area, or should have seen the hazard. This makes evidence preservation and witness testimony critical.

Most premises liability cases are won or lost on the question of notice. The property owner will argue they did not know about the hazard and could not reasonably have known.

Actual notice

The owner was directly informed about the hazard — through a complaint, an incident report, or because they created the condition themselves (e.g., a store employee mopped the floor and did not post a sign).

Constructive notice

The hazard was present for long enough that a reasonable owner performing routine maintenance and inspections would have discovered it. A banana peel that has turned brown suggests it was on the floor for an extended period. A puddle near a leaking refrigerator case suggests an ongoing condition.

• Slip and fall — wet floors, icy walkways, waxed surfaces, spilled products, uneven flooring
• Trip and fall — torn carpeting, broken sidewalks, uneven stairs, missing handrails, obstructed walkways
• Falling objects — improperly stacked merchandise, unstable shelving, ceiling tiles, construction debris
• Inadequate lighting — poorly lit parking lots, stairwells, hallways, and common areas that contribute to falls or criminal attacks
• Negligent security — apartment complexes, parking garages, hotels, or businesses that fail to provide reasonable security measures, leading to assault, robbery, or other criminal acts
• Swimming pool injuries — unsecured pools, inadequate fencing, absence of depth markers, lack of safety equipment. The attractive nuisance doctrine often applies when children are involved.
• Dog bites and animal attacks — injuries caused by animals on the owner's property or under the owner's control
• Elevator and escalator injuries — mechanical failures, sudden stops, entrapment

The 2-year personal injury Statute of limitations applies to premises liability claims. Two years for personal injury not arising from contract. Six years for intentional torts (§6-2-34(1)).

Injuries on government-owned property — public sidewalks, government buildings, parks, public transit facilities — are subject to separate, shorter notice requirements: Cities: 6 months (§11-47-23). Counties: 12 months (§11-12-8).

Damages capped at $100,000/person, $300,000 aggregate per occurrence (§11-93-2). State itself has absolute sovereign immunity under AL Constitution.