Why Hire Us After a Slip and Fall Accident at Walmart?
Los Angeles Slip and Fall Lawyer David Azizi has extensive experience representing clients in Walmart slip, trip and fall cases throughout California. David has spent 25 years practicing personal injury law and applies his experience and skill to every case he takes, winning 98 percent of all cases.
If you’ve been injured and a slip and fall accident at Walmart and need assistance, please call us 24/7 at (800) 991-5292 to discuss your case and begin your free case review.
Not All Cases Have Go to Trial – Many Settle Out of Court
If you or a loved one has been injured and are thinking of filing a Walmart slip and fall claim, give David a call at (800) 991-5292. You will be able to schedule a free, no-obligation case review. David will answer your questions and tell you your options. If you wish to get an idea of how much your case is worth, start now by filling out our slip, trip and fall calculator to get an idea of what your case is worth.
Walmart Slip and Fall Lawsuits Are Common
Walmart is one of the biggest retailers in the country with over 5,000 stores nationwide. Due to high customer volume and safety issues found on its premises, there are a considerable number of personal injury accidents annually. Unlike many other retailers, Walmart has accident insurance, where the retailer self-insures itself against liability claims. This means that when an individual files a lawsuit against them, the settlement or verdict is paid directly by Walmart itself.
What Should I Do After a Walmart Accident?
Immediately after a trip and fall accident, you should take the following steps:
- Seek medical emergency care if necessary
- File a Walmart accident report. Include such details as the time the accident happened, the department, aisle number where it occurred and the name of the employee(s) who responded if possible.
- Use your cell phone to take photos of the spill or box/pallet/ladder that caused your fall.
- Check to see if there is a store video camera that may have captured your fall. Take a picture of it too, and let your attorney know about it. This is important since the video could be used to verify your incident statement. On occasion, either a video camera may not be directly over the spot where the accident happened, or you may not be able to access the footage. Check for other video cameras in the area. They may show that employees were in the area before the accident occurred but did not directly inspect the accident site, leaving the dangerous condition in place.
- Witnesses are important. Check to see if there are witnesses to your fall. If so, obtain their contact information. Some individuals may not have seen your accident but may have witnessed your injury. Obtain their information also. Finally, check to see if anyone saw the spill or other dangerous condition present prior to your fall, and ask whether the person reported it to the store.
- Go to the doctor as soon as possible. Some injuries are not obvious in the adrenalin-infused moments after an accident. Others, like cervical strain may not show up for 48 hours. Follow your doctor’s instructions.
- When you arrive home, take pictures of any cuts and abrasions or swelling due to the accident.
- Keep the clothes and shoes you were wearing. They may be used as evidence in your accident claim.
- Keep a diary of how you feel on a daily basis starting with the day of the accident. If you missed anything on the incident report or did not make one/receive a copy of it, write it down.
How Long Will It Take to Resolve My Case?
Generally, this depends on the case. If the insurer is willing to make a reasonable offer for the damages, the time frame will be shorter. However, they may offer a lower than adequate amount. While this type of action is not limited to Walmart, it is a common occurrence. If you accept the offer, they will request that you sign a release, freeing them from any further liability. This means if you develop a problem that was not noticed soon after the accident but caused by the trauma of the fall, you cannot ask to be compensated for any further damages.
Additionally, at times the full extent of the injuries sustained as a result of a slip and fall accident are not known until the injured party has undergone a course of conservative treatments and evaluation by the necessary specialist; such as an orthopedic surgeon, neurologist and/or pain management. What you receive in the settlement is what you get. No exceptions are made once the release is signed, and the settlement amount is paid.
A slip, trip and fall attorney can negotiate on your behalf, protecting your rights. By providing evidence showing how the company and its employees were at fault in your Walmart slip, trip and fall accident, the offer may change. If not, the case might need to go to a jury of your peers. Either way, David Azizi will be at your side throughout the process.
Common Walmart Settlements and Verdicts
The settlement or verdict in a case depends on the details. Each case is different, so the the amount recovered in any accident settlement will differ. One of the questions clients ask is: How much is my case worth? That is why we recommend using our settlement calculators to get an estimate. David will review your answers during your free case evaluation and explain what he feels are your best options.
Some expenses that can be recovered include:
- Medical Expenses: This includes the cost of an ambulance if one was needed, doctor bills, hospital costs, medication, radiology such as X-rays or MRIs, rehabilitative therapy and nursing care at home.
- Lost Wages: If you are unable to work after the accident, you can recover the wages you otherwise would have received. In some cases, you may be unable to work at the same job after the accident. This may entitle you to be compensated for lost future income.
- Pain and Suffering: The emotional, chronic physical pain and psychological suffering you experience after the accident can be compensated. This differs from one person to another.
- Additional expenses: These include such costs as the travel expenses to visit your doctor such as the cost of gas or taxi fare.
Typical Reasons for Walmart Slip, Trip and Fall Accidents
There are a number of reasons slip and fall and trip and fall injuries happen at Walmart. Some are:
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- Trip over a box, pallet or ladder left in a walkway or aisle
- A missing tile or cracked flooring
- Even a broken or elevated pavement in the parking lot or sidewalks leading to the store can cause an injury
- Slip on water, such as around produce bins
- Broken eggs or yogurt on the floor
- Spilled flour, grains or sugar
- Spilled oil, shampoo or laundry detergent
- Or water from freezer or bagged ice that has pooled on the floor
If I Was Injured in a WalMart Parking Lot Accident Can I File a Lawsuit?
Injuries happen frequently in parking lots, caused by slip, trip or fall accidents to runaway carts that cause the individual to fall. Slips can be due to a substance spilled on the ground that should be noticed by the employees rounding up the carts. Trips can result from objects left in the parking lot or broken pavement.
Assaults take place in parking lot and in some areas it is more common than in others. When this has happened, Walmart is on notice to have adequate security to keep customers safe.
Injuries That Result from a These Types of Accidents
- Facial Injury: This can involve a broken nose, dental trauma or a fractured jaw.
- Head Injury: This can cause bleeding on the brain, which is also called a subdural hematoma. In older individuals, the signs and symptoms may not become symptomatic for up to 30 days after the injury.
- Broken Bones: A common injury associated with slip, trips and falls is hip fracture. This serious injury may require surgery or total hip replacement. Other fractures such as those of the lower or upper extremity are also common and may require surgery in some cases.
- Knee Injury: This can involve the medial, anterior or lateral ligaments. Such injuries may require surgery. Additionally, patella fractures are common.
Proving Liability In These Type of Cases
Proving liability in a Walmart slip, trip and fall accident is dependent on proving that the injury was due to a negligent act by the property owner/renter or the person in control. Proving negligence involves the following:
- The owner has a duty to keep the premises safe for individuals who enter the property.
- The store breached its duty and did not take reasonable care to make the property safe.
- The injury a defendant (the entity against whom liability is alleged) caused would not have happened but for his or her action or lack of action.
The injury is one that a reasonable person in the same position as the defendant could foresee. - The injury caused actual financial damages to the plaintiff.
Key Points of a Case Against Walmart
Key points from the Walmart Procter and Gamble Employee Los Angeles Slip and Fall Personal Injury Case are:
- The client was asked by a Walmart supervisor to push a non-shrink wrapped pallet of a Sunkist product.
- The product fell on our client and caused her to trip and fall.
- The injuries included pain and suffering for the rest of her life because she is not a candidate for surgery.
- The client also suffers from fibromyalgia.
- Pain management will cost $7,000 to $8,000 per year as well as $3,000 to $4,000 in pain medication.
- The client has had $65,000 in past medical damages.
Questions to Ask Yourself:
- Would you find the retail store at fault?
- Would you find our client at fault in any way such as an assumption of risk?
- What is the percentage of fault between the retailer and our client? (Out of 100%)
- If you were to award an amount, what amount would you award our client?
More of The Case Details:
This section will explain, in a little more detail, the events that led to the injury. Our client, a female in her mid-60s, was a Proctor and Gamble employee that often goes into retail establishments to help promote and put out Proctor and Gamble products. Some of these products include toilet paper, toothpaste, mouthwash, hair care products and makeup. None of the products that Proctor and Gamble employees are asked to put on the shelves of a retail establishment weigh more than a few pounds.
While working at a Walmart location, a supervisor asked our client if she could help move a large pallet of Sunkist soda. The client stated that the pallet was no longer shrink wrapped while the retailer stated that over half of the pallet was shrink wrapped. It is their policy that a pallet of merchandise should not be moved by any employee if the pallet is not shrink wrapped.
The Walmart supervisor was pulling the pallet, as our client was pushing the pallet of Sunkist products from behind. The pallet was being moved to another part of the store. The weight of product on the pallet was not evenly distributed. Several boxes of Sunkist fell on the floor, and our client ended up tripping over the boxes and falling on her arms and knees. Some of the boxes also fell on our client.
At the time of the incident, she felt embarrassed about the situation and stated that she thought she was alright. The Walmart slip and fall policy is that an accident report should be documented and recorded. Even if there were no injuries, there should still be documentation of the incident. It is also the case that the retail establishment should preserve any videos that captured the incident. This is very important. The video provides documentation of what is claimed and could be used to visualize whether the area was inspected for dangerous conditions in the period leading up to the accident or incidents such as described in this case.
This Walmart retail store did not write up an accident report nor did they preserve the surveillance video. Our client was diagnosed to be a surgical candidate but because she had underlying problems that made her a high risk her doctor recommended not going through with the surgery. There was a possibility that if she did go into surgery she may not make it out. Our client, although only in her mid-60s, is going to have to live the rest of her life in pain.
The only source of treatment she has open to her is pain management, which is will cost $7,000 to $8,000 per year on top of $3,000 to $4,000 for pain medication. In addition, our client developed fibromyalgia, which is a nerve injury that came about subsequent to this accident. This condition causes entire body pain. The client has had $65,000 in past medical damages.
Comments About the Accident
Walmart’s policy and procedures, which the employees admitted to, does state that a pallet that is not shrinkwrapped should not be moved.
Moreover, our client worked for Procter & Gamble. She had no training from her own employer with regards to whether a pallet of products that is not shrinkwrapped should be moved or not. However, her employer had advised her to help Walmart employees if asked.
It should also be noted that, although it was Walmart’s slip and fall policy to document the incident whether an injury was claimed or not, no incident report was generated. Also, a video of the incident was not preserved although such video is maintained for three months.
Walmart owes a duty to maintain its businesses to ensure that its employees or a condition on the property does not cause harm to another person, whether that person is an employee or not.
In terms of damages, our client was gainfully employed and performing her job duties, which required bending, stooping, kneeling and placing items on the shelves. However, after the accident, she was no longer able to perform her job duties.
When injuries occur, like the case example above, it is important to have the advice of an attorney with experience Walmart accidents. David Azizi has been honored by Expertise.com as one of the top 20 personal injury lawyers in Los Angeles and by Super Lawyers as a top-rated personal injury lawyer in Beverly Hills for years. This designation applauds David’s commitment to his clients and the skills he has honed in over 25 years of his personal injury law practice.
Speak to a Walmart Slip and Fall Lawyer Now – Call Toll Free Or Live Chat 24/7
David is intent on obtaining the compensation his clients deserve and need, whether it is in negotiating a settlement or proving fault to a jury of the client’s peers. In the end, David protects his client’s rights as he would his own. Call David to schedule a free case evaluation. Your questions will be answered and your options discussed. Start by dialing (800) 991-5292 to begin the process that will let you concentrate on healing.
