In Wisconsin, business owners have certain responsibilities towards their customers and guests. Generally, businesses need to keep their customers safe while they are on the business' property. This responsibility includes warning customers of any dangerous conditions on the property and keeping the premises free from conditions that could result in a personal injury.

When a business fails to fulfill its obligations and a customer is injured by a dangerous condition on the property, an injury victim has the right to seek compensation in what is called a premises liability lawsuit.

Premises liability law is similar throughout the country, and a recent case out of the state of Georgia demonstrates how a premises liability lawsuit works. However, this case had a rather unique and disturbing aspect involving the destruction of evidence.

Nearly four years ago, a man was doing his grocery shopping. While in the produce section, he slipped on some crushed fruit and fell to the floor, causing serious damage to his spinal cord. He lost the ability to work. To make matters worse, the medical bills for his injuries soared to more than $100,000.

However, when an investigation into slip-and-fall accident began, attorneys for the grocery store claimed that no surveillance footage of the accident was available. They argued that footage from the camera was kept for no longer than 17 days and that the store did not have a camera covering the area in which the accident happened.

Attorneys for the injured man requested a demonstration of the store's security system, and they found something very interesting. They found that the store had a camera pointing to the exact spot where the man was injured.

Recently, a judge found that the grocery store had both destroyed evidence and was responsible for the man's injuries. As a result, the man won a significant award to compensate him for the accident.

Source: UPI, "Slip-and-fall victim wins lawsuit," Jan. 27, 2012