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Injured at a Las Vegas Restaurant? How to bring a lawsuit

Restaurants in Nevada have a duty to protect the safety of their customers, visitors and staff. If you were injured at a restaurant, you may have grounds to bring a personal injury lawsuit against:

  • the owners,
  • the restaurant’s parent company (such as a hotel/casino),
  • a third-party supplier of food, fixtures, or security, or
  • individual restaurant staff.

Common injuries for which a Nevada restaurant may be liable include (without limitation):

Flowchart of the litigation process in a personal injury lawsuit against a restaurant in Las Vegas

To help you better understand when a Nevada restaurant is liable for accidents to patrons or employees, our Nevada personal injury attorneys discuss:

1. Elements for a claim of restaurant negligence in Nevada

In Nevada, restaurants are liable for injuries caused by their own negligence or the negligence of their employees. They are also liable for negligence caused by third parties under the restaurant’s control (such as security guards).

You must prove four elements in order to make a claim against a Nevada restaurant for negligence:

  1. The restaurant owed you a duty of care;
  2. The restaurant breached that duty;
  3. The breach was the legal cause of your injuries; and.
  4. As a result of the breach, you suffered damages.1

Let’s take a closer look at each of these elements.

1.1. The restaurant owed you duty of care

Under Nevada premises liability laws, restaurants owe you a duty of care to maintain their premises (including parking areas and walkways) in a reasonably safe condition.

They must also exercise due care for your safety and other people who use the premises (such as suppliers, cleaning companies and employees).2

Duties involved in keeping a restaurant safe can include (but are not limited to):

  • Complying with food safety procedures,
  • Serving drinks at a safe temperature,
  • Not serving alcohol to severely intoxicated diners,
  • Keeping furniture in the restaurant in good repair,
  • Cleaning up spills promptly, and
  • Maintaining adequate lighting in the parking area.

Additionally, restaurants have a duty to take “reasonable affirmative steps” to assist you if you are in need of first aid. However, they are under no obligation to take extraordinary measures that require special training.3

Careless waiter trying to catch cup of tea before it spills on a woman customer
A common restaurant injury is getting spilled on with a hot drink.

1.2. Breach of the duty of care by a Nevada restaurant

A restaurant breaches its duty of care when it or its employees fail to exercise the degree of care that an ordinarily careful and prudent person would exercise under the same or similar circumstances.4

Example: An intoxicated diner began choking. While waiting for paramedics to arrive, security began CPR but did not attempt the Heimlich maneuver. The diner died, and his widow sued for wrongful death. The Nevada Supreme Court held that restaurant employees were under no legal duty to administer the Heimlich maneuver, and they acted reasonably by rendering medical assistance and summoning professional medical aid within a reasonable time.5

1.3. The breach was the legal cause of your injury

Breach of a restaurant’s duty of care is considered the legal cause of your injuries when “but for” the restaurant’s actions, your injury would not have occurred.

Most of the time, this is fairly straightforward. Only in rare situations will this issue of “proximate cause” be problematic.

Example: A diner at a Las Vegas restaurant begins choking. The wait staff stands around not knowing what to do. Another diner finally calls 9-1-1, but paramedics fail to save him. An autopsy reveals the diner’s throat had closed up due to a rare allergic reaction, and calling the paramedics earlier would not have helped. So even though the wait staff violated their duty of care by not calling for help right away, the diner’s injuries were not legally caused by the restaurant.

1.4. Your injuries resulted in damages

Under Nevada law, you must actually suffer damages before you can recover damages from a restaurant for negligence. A slight bruise is generally not enough for a viable lawsuit, even if the restaurant was negligent.

However, if the negligence resulted in a physical injury, severe emotional distress or harm to your reputation, then you may have a claim.

The following bubble graph shows common causes of restaurant injuries in Nevada.

Bubble graph that illustrates the common grounds for personal injury claims against a restaurant

2. What damages can I get if a restaurant is negligent?

If you have been harmed through a restaurant’s negligence, you may be entitled to recover:

We offer free consultations to help you determine whether you can recover compensatory damages against a Las Vegas restaurant.

The statute of limitations in Nevada accident cases can be as short as two (2) years, so contact us right away to start working on your case.

3. Who can I sue if I am injured in a Las Vegas restaurant?

If you are injured in a Nevada restaurant, you have the right to sue the person who actually injured you. However, that person is often a waiter, a security guard, another diner or someone else with no “deep pockets.”

Under Nevada’s doctrine of respondeat superior (“vicarious” employer liability), however, restaurants and their parent companies can be held liable for the negligence of their employees when:

  1. The employee was acting within the scope of their employment, and
  2. The risk was a normal one in the restaurant business.

Example: A buffet patron spills sauce all over the floor. The busboy goes to get a “wet floor” placard and mop, but is distracted by his boss on the way. In the meantime, someone slips on the sauce and gets hurt. The restaurant is liable for the busboy’s negligence because they were acting within the scope of their employment, and spills are an ordinary risk of running a buffet.

Closeup of a restaurant patron's shoes standing in front of a broken plate and wine glass on the floor
Slip-and-fall accidents are frequent occurrences in restaurants due to spilled food.

4. What if someone at a restaurant injured me on purpose?

If you were injured by someone’s intentional wrongful acts in a restaurant, you have the right to sue the person who harmed you. However, you cannot sue the restaurant itself unless:

  • The restaurant itself was negligent in preventing the harm, or
  • The act was committed by an employee or another party under the restaurant’s control and,

Example: A Las Vegas pub conducts a shoddy background check on a bartender and misses that he was on probation for open or gross lewdness. Soon the bartender sexually assaults a drunk patron. Even though sex acts do not fall within the scope of the bartender’s employment, the restaurant is liable due to their negligent background check.

5. What if I was partially at fault for my Nevada restaurant injury?

Under Nevada’s comparative negligence / shared fault law, you are entitled to recover damages when another party is at least 50% responsible for your injuries. Your recovery will simply be reduced by the percentage that you are at fault.

Example: Jimmy starts a fight at a bar with Rick. A security guard notices what’s going on, but does not intervene. Rick then fights back, breaking Jimmy’s teeth. Jimmy sues the restaurant for dental bills of $40,000 for failing to break up the fight. A jury agrees, but holds Jimmy 25% responsible. Accordingly, Jimmy’s recovery is reduced by 25% and he is awarded $30,000.

Woman eating at restaurant while holding her hand over her mouth in disgust
Sometimes restaurants unknowingly serve contaminated food, causing a food poisoning outbreak.

Additional Resources

For more in-depth information, refer to these scholarly articles:

 Legal references:

  1. Turner v. Mandaly Sports Entm’t, LLC, 124 Nev. 213, 180 P.3d 1172 (2008); Perez v. Las Vegas Med. Ctr., 107 Nev. 1, 4, 805 P.2d 589 (1991).
  2. See, for example, NRS 651.015 (2) [legal duty of innkeeper].
  3. Lee AD v. GNLV Corp. 117 Nev. 291, 22 P.3d 209 (2001).
  4. NEV. J.I. 4.03; BAJI 3.10.
  5. Lee AD, endnote 3.

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