New Jersey Premises Liabilty Lawyers: Falling Merchandise
In many of the “big box” stores across New Jersey, items are stacked sometimes thirty or forty feet high. Many of these retail/wholesale outlets have racks between the rows that extend to the ceiling, with all inventory out on the floor. What happens when a box or an item is poorly stacked and falls on you while you shop? What if you don’t know how it happened—if it was caused by improper stacking by store employees or by another customer in the next aisle who knocked the product down? Do you still have a claim for your injuries if you can’t pinpoint what caused the items to fall? The answer is yes.
The reality is that injuries sustained by customers from falling objects in stores are fairly commonplace. Under the laws in New Jersey, the owners of a commercial or retail establishment have a duty to use reasonable care to minimize the risk of injury to anyone legally on the property or in the store. This requires that they take reasonable steps to ensure that all merchandise is stacked or stored in ways that minimize the risk of collapse, or of falling objects. This law applies to any type of commercial enterprise, including hardware, grocery, drug, clothing, electronics and other stores.
Though the cause may not be apparent to you, and even when the cause cannot be determined with certainty, you can still pursue and recover damages if you can show that it was more likely than not that your injuries were caused by the negligence of the store or its employees. Often, you can bring in an expert witness, someone who can testify as to what types of precautions are reasonable when stocking shelves.
Contact Harold J. Gerr, Attorney at Law
At the Law Offices of Harold J. Gerr , we have fought for the rights of personal injury victims in central New Jersey for more than four decades. We carefully choose the cases we handle, so that we can provide the highest levels of service and personal attention to each client. We are also happy to take over your case, if your first lawyer does not seem to have your best interests in mind.
For a free initial consultation, contact us online or call our office at 732-537-8570 (toll free at 1-877-249-4600).
