Retail stores and big box stores have a responsibility to make sure their premises and buildings are safe. This includes cleaning up wet floors spills, items properly shelved, and merchandise does not fall. When they fail to do this, serious injuries can occur resulting in large medical bills and lost time from work.
The Michigan retail store negligence lawyers at the Lee Steinberg Law Firm have been holding stores, restaurants, shopping malls, landlords, and other property owners accountable for decades. We have handled cases against major retailers, such as Krogers, Wal-Mart, Meijer, Costco, Best Buy, and Target. Our firm has also litigated cases for people injured at home improvement stores, like Home Depot, Lowes, and Menards.
We understand the traps these cases involve and work hard to ensure our clients get the full compensation they deserve, whether through a settlement or trial.
There are a lot of ways retail stores are negligent for causing an injury on their property. But typically, store negligence
- Failing to warn customers of a spill or wet floor
- Failing to stack merchandise safely, causing merchandise to fall
- Failing to properly secure items on a shelf.
- Collapsed shelving
- Poorly trained employees who are not taught how to properly stack merchandise or look for wet floors and spills
- Forklift accidents such as a pallet dropping on a person or a forklift running into a person.
- Failing to have a mat or runner in the area of the store that is known to get wet.
It depends. An injured person must prove the store was negligent in causing the injury. This means the store let an unreasonably dangerous condition exist for a long enough period of time that it should have taken action to remove it. Not every store injury means a person is entitled to compensation.
However, an experienced Michigan retail store negligence can evaluate what happened and review your situation. If the store failed to obey common safety protocols or industry standards, then the store can be held liable for the injuries.
Proving the store was negligent involves a number of things. Taking photographs of the defective shelf or spill is important. Talking to witnesses who were around the incident is vital. Retaining an expert to show why the store broke the safety rules is also important to help the judge and jury understand why your case warrants compensation.
When a person is injured in a store, usually an employee of the store manager will take down an “incident report.” This report is supposed to include the name and information of the injured person, what happened, and the names of witnesses and injuries.
Most of the time, the store will not provide a copy to the injured person. If possible, try to get a copy of your incident report.
It is important to explain to the manager what caused your injury and if the store was at-fault, what happened and why. Retail stores hate taking responsibility for bad things that happen on their property. They will do almost anything to avoid responsibility. That is why it is very important to call a Michigan store negligence lawyer away. For example, if the injury occurred due to a slip and fall at a grocery store, the law firm can quickly go to the store and take photographs of the dangerous hazard.
Store Injury Settlements
Our firm represented a woman who was injured in Macomb County when a store display fell on her foot in the paint section. The wood display was not constructed properly. The store settled the claim and our client received a substantial sum of damages for her injuries.
In another case, a store in Oakland County failed to remove ice and snow from at the entrance causing a rotator cuff injury and left injury. It had snowed heavily and there was plenty of time to plow the snow and apply salt. We proved the store took no action to get rid of this dangerous condition. We recovered a large settlement for her and her family.
Lee Steinberg Law Firm: Contact Our Michigan Retail Store Negligence Lawyers for Answers
Retail store accidents can result in horrible injuries. From broken bones and fractures, to head injuries or back injuries, our Michigan Retail Store Negligence Lawyers at the Lee Steinberg Law Firm, P.C. work to get the most money for our clients. We explain the process, provide constant updates and answer any questions our clients have.
Most importantly, we do charge anything until we get the case settled. Call us at 1-800-LEE-FREE (1-800-533-3733) for a free phone consultation.
