Business owners in Michigan have to contend with a lot. Most businesses, both large and small, are likely to be sued multiple times over the course of their lifetimes. If you want to avoid such lawsuits, it’s wise to understand some of the most common reasons they occur.
Most frequent sources of business lawsuits
While there are almost endless possible sources of business lawsuits, some are of the more common reasons include:
• slip and fall personal injury lawsuits
• intellectual property disputes
• wrongful termination
• breach of contract
• fraud
• minimum wage violations
• workplace discrimination
• non-employment discrimination
• product liability
• customer data theft liability
• business inheritance disputes
Customer torts
Some of the most common business lawsuits fall under the category of torts. Except in the case of intentional torts such as wrongful tenant eviction, torts are caused by negligence. Negligence, in the legal sense, refers to a party failing to uphold an expected standard of care that results in harm to another party. For example, a business not salting its outdoor walkways in the winter could be considered negligent. To prevent such torts, business must be pro-active in regards to spotting and removing threats to customers as they develop.
Employee lawsuits
The other groups of individuals that may sue your company are your own employees or would-be employees. Often, these lawsuits relate to different laws regarding civil rights and business regulations. For example, if you do not pay proper overtime to your employees, you could be sued. Similarly, if it can be shown you do not hire employees of a certain religious background that live in your geographic area, you could be sued for discrimination.
Overall, it’s in the financial interest of all businesses to act to mitigate threats related to the most common business lawsuit sources.