Wisconsin Slip & Fall — Premises Liability Claims

Premises liability in Wisconsin 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. Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin's modified comparative fault rule §895.045, your damages are reduced by your percentage of fault — but if you are 51% or more at fault, you recover nothing. The defense will work to push your assigned fault past that threshold.

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 3-year personal injury Statute of limitations applies to premises liability claims. Three years for personal injury. Wis. Stat. § 893.54.

Injuries on government-owned property — public sidewalks, government buildings, parks, public transit facilities — are subject to separate, shorter notice requirements: For claims against state officers, employees, or agents, sworn written notice of the claim must be served on the Attorney General within 120 days of the event causing the injury (,). For local government claims, written notice of the circumstances of the claim must be served on the political subdivision within 120 days and an itemized claim presented to the clerk (§893.80(1d)).

Wisconsin Governmental Immunity Act. Except as otherwise provided by statute, damages recoverable by any person against political subdivisions capped at $50,000 per person ($25,000 for volunteer fire companies) (§893.80(3)). Recovery against a state officer, employee, or agent may not exceed $250,000, and no punitive damages are recoverable.