if you are injured in a food store slipping on wet surface is the suit filed in maryland where fall occurred or in Penn where corporate head...

Question

if you are injured in a food store slipping on wet surface is the suit filed in maryland where fall occurred or in Penn where corporate headquaters are located. Neg laws differ between the two states

Answer

There is jurisdiction to sue in either state. However, if you sue in PA, the corporation could seek a dismissal on a legal theory called forum non conveniens. This is Latin for "inconvenient place to litigate because the event and witnesses are elsewhere". Also, presumably your witnesses, including health care providers, are local, so you would have a logistical problem if you had to produce these witnesses in PA. In MD, to prevail in this kind of case, you must prove that the store knew or should have known about the dangerous area and failed to correct it in a timely manner. This is often very hard to prove in a food store, where customers are constantly coming and going and spills are a somewhat common occurrence.