This case involves a slip and fall that occurred at a grocery store. At the time of the incident in question, the Plaintiff was shopping with her young daughter, who was playing the augmented reality game Pokemon Go, when she entered the produce section of the store. Shortly before she arrived in the produce section, a large spill of strawberries had taken place, which grocery store staff had been alerted to. Despite the fact that staff was aware of the spill, no measures were taken to warn customers of the danger, to block off the spill, or to clean it up. As a result, the woman was looking at her daughter’s Pokemon Go screen when stepped on one of the strawberries and fell, suffering a skull fracture as well as a severe concussion. The woman has since suffered from a persistent decline in her cognitive abilities and will require a lifetime of ongoing care.
Question(s) For Expert Witness
1. Please discuss your experience with safety protocols in a supermarket.
2. Based on the description of the summary, what are some of the guidelines to prevent such an accident from occurring?
Expert Witness Response E-008972
Berries are a sort of product that would typically call for a mat to be placed in the display area so as to reduce the risk of slips and falls in the event that the produce spills. Furthermore, once a spill has occurred and been cleaned, it is standard for the site to be marked off with signage or monitored by an employee while the floor is still wet. In this case, the store's staff clearly failed to take appropriate measures to prevent this accident from occurring. I have considerable hands-on grocery experience and have worked on cases very similar to this in the past.
About the author
Joseph O'Neill
Joe has extensive experience in online journalism and technical writing across a range of legal topics, including personal injury, meidcal malpractice, mass torts, consumer litigation, commercial litigation, and more. Joe spent close to six years working at Expert Institute, finishing up his role here as Director of Marketing. He has considerable knowledge across an array of legal topics pertaining to expert witnesses. Currently, Joe servces as Owner and Demand Generation Consultant at LightSail Consulting.