From: AW

Subject: Going barefoot and insurance
Date: 5-16-2016

The liability issue is generally used as a false justification or excuse for requiring people to conform to societal expectations with regard to footwear.

I manage businesses and have used a number of different insurance companies over time, and I have never seen an insurance policy that even mentions footwear, let alone requires it. There are so few people who go barefoot in businesses that I doubt there is even enough data to quantify the potential risk. Accidents do occur as a result of some footwear, notably high heels and flip-flops, but there is no move to stop people from wearing these items.

Also some people seem to think that anyone who gets a minor scrape or cut could sue a business for huge amounts of money. But personal injury awards or settlements are mostly based on the medical expenses required to treat the injury and the amount of income lost due to the person’s inability to work because of their injury.

So someone would have to sustain a fairly significant injury to run up much in the way of costs and losses, and then prove that their bare feet caused or contributed to their injury and make the case that it was the business’s responsibility to require them to wear shoes. I imagine that this combination of factors would be extraordinarily unusual at best.

AW