Grocery Store Customer Suffers Serious Injuries After Slipping on Wet Floor

Case Overview

This case involves a slip and fall that occurred at a grocery store in Montana. The plaintiff was traveling through the produce section of the store at the time of the accident. The plaintiff had just rounded a corner next to a display of fruits when he suddenly slipped on a number of berries that had fallen on the floor from the display. In addition to the presence of the spilled fruit on the floor, it was also noted that the floor was still wet from a cleaning that had presumably occurred just before the fruit spilled from the display. The plaintiff suffered multiple, significant injuries as a result of the fall, including serious damage to his spine that required multiple surgeries to repair. As a result of the accident, the plaintiff was unable to work for the better part of a year, and incurred significant medical expenses.

Questions to the Slip And Fall expert and their responses

Please discuss your experience with safety protocols in a supermarket.

I am a retail store designer by trade and have a thorough knowledge of retail store operations and safety. I have assisted in very similar slip and fall cases for plaintiffs against a number of major national retail brands. In each of these cases, food items were displaced onto the floor and contributed to the subsequent accident.

Based on the description of the summary, what are some of the guidelines to prevent such an accident from occurring?

Major retailers, such as the grocery store chain in question here, have employee protocols detailing how to inspect the store on a routine basis. All too often these rules printed in training manuals or store procedure manuals are not followed or documented correctly. I have handled cases like yours by first reviewing the store protocols to determine where possible points of weakness or opportunities for hazards may lie.

Have you served as an expert on a case involving a similar claim?

I have assisted in very similar slip and fall cases for plaintiffs against a number of major national retail brands.

About the expert

This expert has been in the retail and retail planning industry for over 40 years. He received his Bachelor of Science in Architectural Technology from the New York Institute of Technology prior to earning a Bachelor of Architecture from City University of New York - City College. Awarded the honor of Fellow of the Institute of Store Planners, his articles on store design have been featured in Display Design Ideas and New York Magazine and he has been an invited speaker at trade shows sponsored by the likes of the National Association of Store Fixture Manufacturers, the National Retailers Federated Association, and the Store Planning and Equipment Counsel. He has held executive and management positions as a store planner with multiple retail companies, and he is currently the Principal of his own retail store planning consulting firm that specializes in store layout, design, and safety with a client base that includes Macy's, Walmart, Kmart, Sears, Stop and Shop, and many more.