Florida Premises Liability Standards for Accidents Causing Personal Injuries

Under Florida law, the duty owed by landowners and/or those in control of properties to individuals other than employees – injuries to employees are governed by Florida’s workers’ compensation system (see Chapter 440 of the Florida’s Statutes) – depends in part on the individual’s purpose for being on the property.

Florida divides the status of individuals on property into five categories. This blog lists the categories and the duties owed under each category.

Public Invitee. A person who is invited to enter or remain on land as a member of the public for a purpose for which the land is held open to the public. (Example: Child in a public park.) Landowner/Possessor Duty: (1) to correct or warn of dangers that the owner knows or should know of by the use of reasonable care, and which the visitor cannot or should not know of by the use of reasonable care; and (2) to maintain the premises in a reasonably safe condition. (See my previous blog on this subject.)
Business Invitee. A person who is invited to enter or remain on land for a purpose directly or indirectly connected with business dealings with the possessor of the land. (Examples: A grocery story patron; a paying fan at a professional sporting event.) Duty: same as for Public Invitee.
Licensee By Invitation. A social guest. Duty: same as for Public Invitee.
Uninvited Licensee. A person who chooses to come upon the premises solely for his or her own convenience without invitation either expressed or reasonably implied under the circumstances. (Example: teenagers partying in a parking lot owned by a business establishment.) Duty: To refrain from willful or wanton injury (e.g., to remove any concealed “traps” of which the owner has actual knowledge).
Trespasser. A person who enters the premises without license, invitation, or other right, and intrudes for some definite purpose of his own, or at his own convenience, or merely as an idler with no apparent purpose, other than perhaps to satisfy his curiosity. Duty: same as for Uninvited Licensee.

While the duty owed can be a decisive and intensely disputed issue, it is not the only issue in determining whether or not a person injured by a dangerous condition is compensated. Other important factors include negligence and comparative fault, proximate cause, and the connection, if any, between the claimed injuries and the accident.
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Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. is a South Florida based law firm committed to the judicial system and to representing and obtaining justice for individuals – the poor, the injured, the forgotten, the voiceless, the defenseless and the damned, and to protecting the rights of such people from corporate and government oppression. We do not represent government, corporations or large business interests.