New York Lawyers for Supermarket and Retail Store Accidents

Shoppers at supermarkets, malls, and other retail stores have the right to safety. Unfortunately, in certain cases, improper cleanup, insufficient building maintenance, lack of proper security measures and other forms of negligence can result in serious injuries to shoppers and passersby. In these instances, New York premises liability law can provide you with legal recourse.

If you or a loved one have been harmed in an accident due to the store’s negligence, you will want an experienced attorney at your side to help protect your legal rights and recover full and fair compensation for your injuries. Block O’Toole & Murphy has successfully litigated numerous multi-million dollar shopping accident cases such as:

• $3,258,000 verdict for a man who was struck by a forklift operated by a Fairway employee outside of the supermarket, causing a fractured left tibia-fibula as well as spinal injuries
• $2,750,000 settlement for a Bronx woman who tripped and fell on an uneven sidewalk outside a shopping center, requiring multiple knee surgeries including a partial knee replacement
• $1,175,000 settlement after a woman who was buying groceries was struck by juice bottles which had been improperly stacked, requiring spinal surgeries

Block O’Toole & Murphy has won over $1.5 billion dollars for our clients in verdicts and settlements across a wide range of personal injury cases. Receive a free consultation today by calling 212-736-5300 or contacting us online.

The attorneys at Block O’Toole & Murphy will pursue justice in negligence cases wherever they occur. This includes grocery stores, malls, retail chains, shopping centers, pharmacies, or wholesale locations. If you have been injured while out shopping, you may be able to pursue legal action to recover compensation for your damages.

What Qualifies as Negligence in Store Injury Cases?

Generally speaking, claims of negligence can be brought when an accident occurs due to conditions or conduct that should have been preventable.

One way to do this is to establish that an owner created the hazard which lead to the accident. This can either be through an action that they took, or an action that they didn’t take but should have. For instance, not salting an icy sidewalk outside a grocery store the day after a snowstorm could be considered an act of negligence.

Another path to proving negligence is demonstrating that the owner had notice of a defect but did not take the appropriate actions to correct it. Importantly, if you are claiming an owner had notice of a hazard that leads to an accident, you must also demonstrate that they had a reasonable amount of time in which to take corrective action.

If a defect has caused prior accidents, this can be used to show that an owner or manager should have been aware of the defect. It can also be claimed that, if an owner was not aware of a hazardous defect, that they should have been if they were acting responsibly – thus demonstrating their negligent behavior.

The Most Common Forms of Negligence

Accidents resulting from negligent behavior on the part of store owners, managers or employees can have a variety of causes:

• Slip and Fall Accidents: One of the most common forms of store accidents, these can be caused by wet or dirty floors, badly-lit staircases and hallways or debris which obstructs walkways. Failing to salt icy sidewalks is another common cause.
• Inadequate Security: Businesses need to have security to deal with dangers that may arise on their property. It’s also important to have quality security cameras in the event that a physical altercation occurs.
• Falling Object Accidents: These types of accidents happen in places like warehouses and supermarkets where items are stacked high up. If a customer goes to reach for something, and those items fall due to being improperly stacked, there is the potential for somebody to get seriously injured.

Other potential causes of accidents include defective elevators or escalators and stair or handrail collapses. Businesses should be aware of the dangers that customers may face on their premises and take pre-emptive measures to correct them. When they neglect to do so, catastrophic injury may result.

What To Do If You Have Been Injured

Though it may seem unfair, a store is not usually going to be cooperative in showing how their negligence contributed to your injury, so you’ll want to take a few steps to prove liability yourself.

A good starting point is filing an official report with the manager of the premises where you have been injured. This will make the store aware of the hazardous condition in their store, if they are not already. This report will also be a valuable document if you choose to pursue legal action for negligence and premises liability.

Taking pictures is another step you should take following an accident that causes you to be injured. If, for instance, you slip on a recently mopped floor that did not have any signage posted, you will want to take a picture of the scene as soon as possible. Otherwise, a sign can be placed after your accident, obscuring the fact that proper signage was not present when you were actually injured.

In order to further gather evidence, you should get the contact information of any witnesses. By doing this at the scene, you reduce the risk of losing contact with somebody who could help prove negligence on the part of store owners, managers or employees.

Always make sure to contact a medical professional following an accident that causes you to be injured. Occasionally, the natural adrenaline that follows a serious accident could prevent you from noticing any injuries that may be present. Checking in with a medical professional at the first opportunity will help you catch injuries before they get worse, and also give you more valuable documentation if you choose to pursue legal action.

Contact a New York Store Injury Attorney

Store owners, managers and employees have an obligation to keep their customers safe. If you have been injured as the result of negligence in a slip-and-fall accident or a store accident of any kind, the personal injury attorneys at Block O’Toole & Murphy can help you recover compensation. Schedule a free consultation to speak with a lawyer about your case by calling 212-736-5300 or filling out our online contact form.

Serving Queens, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Long Island, Manhattan, Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers and all New York State.