Just out of curiosity here. I work in the food court at a mall, and we had a bad rain storm the other day, and there were puddles of water in the back hall where the workers go. Housekeeping had a wet floor sign there, but never mopped up the water. If someone was to slip and fall, is the mall liable even though they had wet floor signs there?
Putting wet floor signs in the area of a slipping hazard can make these types of cases difficult. However, the lack of floor mats or slip-resistance mats on the ground could still be a problem for the defendant. It's easy to just put a wet floor sign out and then let customers track water all over a floor and then blame a customer who slips. But the property owner or manager should still be taking more steps to protect invitees by either cleaning up the water or using mats to prevent people from slipping. Just putting a wet floor sign out doesn't necessarily absolve the property owner or property manager of responsibility.
Also, even if a customer or even a worker in the area saw the wet floor sign and walks carefully over the area that person may still slip and fall even while being cautious. Liability, as usual, depends on the specific facts of the case, including how much of an area was slippery, how many signs were out, what type of sign was out, how many, what color was the sign, what did the warning say, how close in relation to the slippery conditions was the sign, and the slip resistance properties of the floor.
Don't automatically assume there is no case if someone were to slip. A person injured in this type of situation should still consult with an attorney, let the attorney do an investigation and make a case-specific decision. I have handled cases like this before and just putting out a warning sign doesn't automatically mean you are immune to a legitimate suit.
Very hard to win. If there are signs, you are under a duty to watch your step. Probably not a winning case, but talk to a local attorney and see what they think.
