Retail Display Causes Serious Slip and Fall Accident

Case Overview

This case takes place in California and involves a man who suffered extensive, permanent, and debilitating injuries while shopping in a supermarket. At the time of the accident, the man was recovering from ankle surgery and required the use of crutches in order to ambulate. On the day of the incident in question, there was a display table with free samples set up in a narrow area between the registers and aisles at the front of the store. The table was covered with a long, flowing table cloth that draped onto the floor and extended several inches from the table. As the man was attempting to make his way past the table one of his crutches became tangled in the loose fabric, causing him to fall and strike his head on the floor. As a result of the fall, the man suffered a serious skull fracture, as well as permanent brain damage.

Questions to the Retail Store expert and their responses

Do you have extensive experience in the supermarket industry?

The bulk of my experience is with general merchandising stores that include grocery products in their assortment, this includes big box retail locations with grocery sections, dedicated grocery stores, and several other retail environments. I have designed and approved displays and visual merchandising for hundreds of stores, as well as dozens of events and product promotions. I served as the COO and Director of Operations for multi-billion dollar retail chains.

Are there standards that need to be met or steps that need to be followed when setting up display tables?

There are standards that need to be satisfied when setting up display tables, and proper display techniques are generally part of the store set up instructions. This would take into account the supplies and materials used, spacing, height and weight bearing, and so on. Customer safety should always be a retailer's number one concern when designing and maintaining their store environment. Temporary displays such as the one described here can pose a unique safety risk due to their temporary nature - less thought might be put into the design and implementation of a temporary display, and therefore less thought given to safety. In this case, allowing the tablecloth to drape onto the floor and into the path of customers clearly created a dangerous situation.

About the expert

This highly qualified expert has been responsible for hiring and training thousands of people and dozens of service providers for the companies that he has been in charge of and he has 20+ years of experience with big box retail establishments. He has been trained at Stanford University and at the Harvard Negotiation Institute and is a Director at the National Retail Federation. He is the former CEO at United Retail Group and the former Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Wet Seal Inc.. He is also the former Vice President Regional Manager at Target Stores. Currently, he is the CEO of a major retail consulting firm in California.

E-023913

Specialties:

Retail Store