My five year old fell at our local Wal-Mart?

Question

My five year old fell in the bathroom at our local Wal-Mart because of the terrible conditions. His grandfather had taken him to the bathroom, the floor was wet, and he fell and hit his head on the urinal. I took him to the ER where he had x-rays, luckily he only had neck strain and a bruse. He was put on rest for a week. When I returned five hours later the bathrooms were still a mess, I took a picture of the bathroom cleaning log, which was signed out that the bathroom had been cleaned every two hours until 9pm, but it was only 5pm. All I got was a letter stating that I had two years to file a claim. But yet a woman I work with sister fell yesterday at the same walmart and got a call today from corporate with a settlement fee. Should I try to sue walmart for keeping an unsafe environment in there stores, do I have a case????

My sons grandfather filled out a report right after the incident, My father, exhusband and myself went and tried to talk to a manager the same day but no one would discuss it with us, my ex requested a copy of the cleaning log but was refused. I called Corporate Wal-mart the same night and complained. I got a call the following day from the walmart's claim department and took a statement of what happened. Everyone keeps stating to me that the important part is that my son is ok, I understand that but the fact that the conditions of the bathrooms have not improved shows me that they dont care that my son was injured nor do they care if it happens to anyone elses child. All the store manager told me the next day (which I had to go again to walmart to talk to someone, no one at the store called me, was that to let him know when my son retured to the store and he would get him something special.

I not only took pictures I e-mailed them to myself to put a date and time stamp on them, and because it was requested, I e-mailed the copies to corporate walmart. Surprisingly this walmart no longer keeps its cleaning logs in the bathrooms.

Answer 1

Hell yea, you got all the evidence, the pictures will help you greatly. You should get retribution right away for your sons injuries. They should not be able to get away with this right away. Disgusts me that Walmart will be like that. You gotta sue, you got a case, hope everything goes well.

Answer 2

You could sue, but you're probably not going to get anything other than a nominal award- whichs is basically nothing. If you want to find out if you have a case, call any personal injury lawyer in the phonebook- he or she will listen to you and give you a free consultation about your case- afterall they receive 1/3 of the award, so it's in their best interest.

The action you would be bringing would be called a Negligence action. There are 5 basic elements:
1. Duty -Walmart has a duty to keep all areas of their store in a safe manner.
2. Breach- You have to show that Walmart breached this duty (shouldn't be hard)
3. Cause- You have to show that Walmart's breaching this duty was the actual cause ("but for") of your son's injury. This is met.
4. Proximate Cause- This basically means that this is the kind of injury that stems from Walmart's breach of duty. Yes, wet floors usually cause people to fall and hurt themselves. However, what if your son got water on his shoes which had a rare defect and caused his shoes to be permanently glued to his feet. Is this the kind of thing that we expect to happen when a floor is wet? No, it's not.
5. DAMAGES- this is the problem in your case. People think that just because someone breached their duty (i.e. failed to keep a store area safe) means that they are entitled to get a big insurance payday. Think again! You have to show that you were HURT. Yes, I know your son got a bruise and strain, etc. However, how do you put a dollar amount on that harm? Now if he broke his arm, that would be a different situation.

For sure, I think Walmart will jump at the chance to pay your son's medical bills. That's just common sense. Again, if I were you I would definitely contact the best personal injury lawyer you can find in your area. Afterall, it will cost you nothing. Also, you might get a small paultry sum in a quick settlement check.

Hope this helps!

ASLAN

Answer 3

I used to work for Target. They have the policy of paying for the visit to the dr/hospital for the initial injury, and anything that is further is covered by their insurance (they are self insured).

I think that Wal Mart would operate in the same manner. Did you report the initial accident to a Wal Mart staff right away before leaving the store? That should have been done, because then things would have gone a lot smoother. I think they are looking at that you waited to report it, and your son wasn't with you (I am guessing on that), so maybe you were out to scam them. I would send their corporate offices a copy of the medical report, along with the picture of the bathroom cleaning log (I'm sure they would be interested to know about the log being signed ahead of time. . .). Did you also take photos of the conditions in the bathroom?? That will also help you sway their corporate your way. If they still choose to do nothing, take all of that information and go see a lawyer. . .

I doubt the company will ignore all of that information along with a letter explaining the chain of events. . .

Good luck.

Answer 4

Was Wal-Mart notified and an incident report done before the grandfather left the store with your child. If not then there is probably nothing you can do about it. There are two things you have to look at. The first is the report, the second is the seriousness of the injury. You have to demonstrate gross negligence on the part of Wal-Mart. The photo's are good in establishing that fact, however you also have to have punitive damages. That means you spent extensive money taking him to the doctor because of the seriousness of the injury, or maybe you lost pay from work to take your child to the Doctor. If you cannot demonstrate punitive damages then you have no case. Any Attorney worth his salt will tell you this. Look in the yellow pages for injury attorneys with free consultations. Call one and they will tell you immediately whether or not you have a case.

Answer 5

As a student who is currently studying law. Yes you have a pretty good case. Not only can you sue Wal-mart but you can also sue the individual who signed off on the bathroom log. They were being negligent and so what Wal-Mart. That is a case in its self. There are many things that you can do. Take it to small claims court which is normally capped off at a winning of 5,000 dollars but you can represent yourself instead of having a lawyer. If you think that you deserve more than you can get a lawyer and take it to a higher court but again the court cost and lawyer fees get more expensive as you go higher through the court system. So think about that since your child was ok and has sustained minor injury's luckily.. and they may not award you with what your looking for. look previous cases that were similar and favorable in your area of courts to determine where you may stand.

Answer 6

absolutely if there is cause. if they said it was cleaned and the log book was signed i hope you took a picture of that as well for proof. seems to me that nobody is doing their job. I'm not saying go sue for every dime u can get, but if there is a true justifiable cause then yeah i would, and make sure your son is ok if he gets headaches more often or complains about things hurting him that didn't before you need to write all that down and take him to the Dr. i hope your son is ok. did you speak to the manager who was there and let them see the log book? if not try to go back tomorrow and see if it is the same and take it to the manager right then and there so the manager can do his part, if the manager doesn't know whats going on they cant help fix the problem. if you did go to the manager and you go back and nothing has changed then go over the managers head etc....

Answer 7

I'd go after the bastards with guns ablazin'!
Surely there's all kinds of lawyers out there that will take this on a contingency basis.
With all the money WalMart makes, they should be able to afford to keep their bathrooms clean and safe for customers.
But perhaps it's more important that four of the five most wealthy people in the world are Sam Walton's heirs.
Go get 'em - they deserve all the bad publicity they can get!
I've never shopped in a WalMart, and I never will. They abuse their employees (even worse in China, where they're a HUGE presence); they come into a town and put small independent businesses out of business just because they can; the gouge their customers by fooling them with their 'low prices - everyday' on selected 'loss leaders', then jack up prices on other stuff that no one bothers to comparison shop for; they swagger into City Councils in small towns and demand tax incentives and special services all because they think they're doing something great by bringing a bunch of minimum-wage jobs to town. When will the terrorists blow up all the WalMart stores in the world? -RKO-

Answer 8

What was the actions of the 5 year old before going to the bathroom? If he had been running around, climbing on everything and acting like most children i have seen at walmart, then I am sure they have that on video for their defense.

Answer 9

Yes, you have a case. They're responsible for all of your child's medical bills that are associated with the accident as well any pain and suffering. Call 1-800-WAL-MART and tell them what happened. And don't let them intimidate you. Tell them you took pictures of the bathroom he fell in.

Answer 10

Well first off were you holding his hand. Little children have a way of getting excited or lost in large stores like that and Ive noticed a lot of people just love to let thier children run around like its a friggin playground.