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Negligent Security at Wal-Mart Means a Dark Black Friday

Injuries resulting out of negligent security at Wal-Mart’s Black Friday sale are nothing new – ask personal injury lawyers across the country, and they’ll admit to having represented injured victims of these ferocious stampedes, resulting in confidential settlements with the retail giant. This time, however, the insane rush to snag the best buys of the year at a Long Island Wal-Mart store left one employee dead and several shoppers injured. Initial reports said that a pregnant woman was among those injured, and found sprawled on the ground after the stampede had subsided.

The employee, 34-year-old Jdimytai Damour, along with some other employees was attempting to open the doors to the early morning sale at about 5 o’clock in the morning. No sooner had he managed to squeeze the doors open, than he was crushed in the avalanche of desperate shoppers, who knocked him over and continued to trample on him as they rushed through the store. Videos showed that several people had been knocked to the floor as the doors opened, although no serious injuries were reported. As police who later rushed to give first aid to the injured Damour attempted to resuscitate him, they still found themselves pushed by shoppers in a hurry. Damour died soon after, and his parents are justifiably angry.

Initial reports had a pregnant woman injured in the throng of shoppers, and suffering a miscarriage, but these have now been refuted. That more shoppers were not seriously injured in this stampede is a minor miracle, and not due to any foresightedness or planning on the part of the world’s largest retailer.

Wal-Mart has been accused of being careless and negligent in its handling of security for Black Friday. The Friday after Thanksgiving has traditionally been the busiest shopping day of the year, and crowds lining up the previous night outside their favorite stores has been an accepted part of the tradition. This year too, there were an approximately 2000 people waiting outside this particular Wal-Mart’s entrance, waiting for the doors to open. For the retailer to know that crowds would be not only huge, but also likely to be unmanageable, and still not provide security for the employees and the crowds of shoppers, is completely appalling. This was an accident that could have been so easily averted, had proper security arrangements been in place before the shoppers were let in. Some retailers have a ticket system in place, where ticketed customers are let in, leaving the shopping throngs easy to manage. To allow 2000 shoppers to break down the doors of the store, knocking down an employee as well as other shoppers, is a shocking breach of security on Wal-Mart’s part.

The company is already feeling the heat from its union, which has long berated the company for its poor policies towards workers. The company also needs to face censure from citizen’s advocates, consumer groups, and negligent security lawyers for the shameful manner in which it creates conditions that are ripe with possibility for injuries.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of negligent security. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

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