Slipped Or Fell At A NY Target? An Injury Lawyer Explains

If you’ve experienced a slip and fall in a store like Target, Walmart, ShopRite, or Dollar Tree, there are certain considerations you may need to be aware of:

1. Duty of Care:

1. • Property owners, including retail stores, have a duty to maintain a safe environment for customers. This includes keeping the premises free of hazards that could cause slip and fall accidents.

1. Negligence:

1. • To establish a slip and fall case, you generally need to show that the store owner or staff was negligent. This involves demonstrating that they knew or should have known about the dangerous condition that caused your fall and failed to take reasonable steps to address it.

1. Documentation:

1. • Document the scene of the accident, including taking photographs of the area where you fell, the hazard (if visible), and any injuries you sustained. This evidence can be crucial when building your case.

1. Witnesses:

1. • If there were any witnesses to the incident, try to obtain their contact information. Their statements may be valuable in supporting your case.

1. Reporting the Incident:

1. • Report the incident to store management or staff immediately. Ensure that an incident report is filed, and ask for a copy.

1. Medical Attention:

1. • Seek medical attention promptly, even if your injuries seem minor. This establishes a connection between the accident and your injuries, and a medical record can serve as evidence in your case.

1. Preserving Evidence:

1. • Preserve any evidence related to the incident, such as the shoes and clothing you were wearing at the time of the fall. This may be relevant to your case.

1. Consulting an Attorney:

1. • If you’re considering pursuing a slip and fall case, it’s advisable to consult with a personal injury attorney. They can provide guidance on the specific laws in your jurisdiction and help you navigate the legal process.

If you’ve sustained any injuries caused by unsafe or dangerous conditions in a grocery store, you can seek monetary compensation for these non-economic and economic damages:

• Current, future, and past medical expenses related to your slip and fall injuries, including those for diagnostic tests, medical treatments, medications, hospitalization, emergency services, assistive devices, rehabilitation, physical therapy, etc.
• Physical and emotional pain and suffering
• Lost earnings
• Lost earning capacity or career
• Modifications to your home or vehicle
• Disability or permanent injury
• Disfigurement or scarring
• Emotional distress and mental anguish
• Punitive damages

There is no set amount of compensation for an injury caused by a slip, trip or fall. Instead, compensation amounts will depend on the part of your body you have injured, the severity of your injuries and the effect they have had on your life.

The largest settlement ever awarded in a slip and fall lawsuit was over 20 million dollars

If you have a slip and fall in Walmart, the best time to talk to Walmart is immediately after being injured. This means at the scene, within minutes if you are able to speak. Talk to a manager, talk to an employee, get an incident report made. In fact, you should insist that an incident report be drafted and that you are provided a copy to review and sign.

The incident report is important for several reasons. The main reason an incident report is important is to memorialize what occurred. Without one, memories fade over time and different viewpoints can result when any witness begins to recollect what happened. An incident report, while it cannot stop people from changing their story later, will serve to remind people with faulty memories of what they said immediately following the injury-producing event.

The incident report also serves another purpose – it proves that an event occurred at the time and place you alleged to have been injured. It might also provide notice to Walmart to keep a video of the event and not discard it later. Videos can be vital to the prosecution of any Walmart injury claim for this reason.

Contributed by; Ribowsky Law- Queens Personal Injury & Accident Lawyer, 109-12 Jamaica Ave, Richmond Hill, NY 11418. Ribowsky Law serves Rockland County and the greater New York City area.

  Slipped Or Fell At A NY Target? An Injury Lawyer Explains