I tripped and fell walking into a small food market. The market had a sliding door that seemed to close rather fast when I was entering and I fell forward injuring my self. The store has a sign in the front that says “Your health and safety is our mission.” Do I have a claim for my injuries?
You possibly have a claim depending on the door and your gait.
First, the sign at the front of the store is irrelevant to your case. When a food store publishes a sign assuring their customers of their health and safety, it is not a guarantee against an accident in the market. The sign is merely an assurance to the store’s customers that the products sold are safe to consume. There are entire Departments in the Federal and State governments devoted to screening foods and warning consumers. Recently in the news, the FDA issued warnings for consumers against purchase of radioactive shrimp harvested in southeast Asia and sold in this country. The court will not allow the jury to consider the sign.
Reasonable Standard of Care
Second, the door itself may or may not be defective. You described the door as a door that “closes rather fast.” Had other people tripped entering through this door? Before the accident, were you injured or disabled in anyway that might affect your walk? As with all negligence cases the standard is reasonable conduct.
So the case will come down to the sliding door. Was the operation of the door reasonable under the circumstances? You will probably have to hire an expert to evaluate the door to determine if was operating in reasonable manner as measured against sliding doors in the industry. See Alvarez v First Nat. Supermarkets, Inc., 11 AD3d 572, 783 NYS2d 62 (2d Dept 2004). The expert must evaluate the sliding door against other sliding doors that exist. The court will not allow testimony about new and untested safety devices for sliding doors.
By James Santner, Esq.
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