Should I file a lawsuit if I was injured at a local bar? I was out with a couple of friends at a local bar and while walking towards the bathroom, I stepped onto a heating vent and literally went through the floor. The vent was not secure, it was very scary. I fell as far down as my chest, and caught myself before falling all the way through to the basement. Two people pulled me up and I ended up going to the hospital and had x-rays taken. I did not break or fracture anything, but my right leg has severe swelling, bruising and I am in a lot of pain. I was given pain medication and told to take it easy and come back if I start to feel worse. The main issue I have is that the bar manager blew me off, was extremely rude and told me it was my fault. I was not intoxicated, had only been there for an hour and had 1 beer when this happened. Clearly, this was negligence on their part. I took pictures of the heating vent after I fell through it. The management refused to fill out an accident report or put anything in writing other than the owners name and phone number. What should I do?

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A: Yes you should file a claim with the bar's property insurance company. This is what the law refers to as a premise liability case. The bar is a business that invites customers to come in and buy things so they can make a profit. The law holds the business community to a higher standard than it does with you or I inviting people into our homes. So the bar has a duty to protect its customers from harm. This is what I call a trap door defect. It's something customers are expected to step onto and if constructed properly it should support them. It didn't'. Instead it operated like a trap door. The bar's manager is an ass. Ignore him. Hire a lawyer to pursue a claim with the bar's property casualty insurer. Call us if we can help because I'd love to hear what the bar manager has to say about how many times this has previously occurred. Who knows maybe it's a class action against a classless idiot.

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Steve Lombardi, Attorney