Board 8 > Should I sue Target?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I was grocery shopping this past weekend and when I went to leave the store, I inadvertently stepped onto the white traffic lines and slipped and fell. It was raining and there was no caution sign anywhere. A witness went inside to get a target employee. My jar of pasta sauce was shattered, ruining everything in one bag and I had a cut on my ankle that was bleeding a fair amount.

A team lead from Target sat me down and filled out a customer incident form documenting the situation and said that Target would give me a call in a few days. I received the call, and the person on the line asked if I wanted to make a claim. I said I was unsure (mostly because I have no idea how I would go about doing that beyond saying "yes" and I have no idea what it would entail), and she said I can call back with the number on the incident report I was given if I do.

So... do I? What will I even get out of this? They already replaced the $10 in groceries that was in that one bag.

I think making an insurance claim is different from suing them.

I don't see what you have to lose in either case.
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Depends on how serious the injuries. Are you missing work?
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If this was outside, then no, there's no claim you can make and it likely was just an automatic call without the actual details

EDIT: Well, yeah. Insurance claim is different than suing them. You can't sue them.
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Sue for the value of your pasta sauce, obviously.
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Has your ankle required any medical care?

The claim would be to get their insurance to pay for it most likely since the groceries are the only other possible cost and those were replaced already.
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No, the cut on my ankle is still tender and I keep a bandage+neosporin on it, but other than that I'm fine.

Skyridge87 posted...

I inadvertently stepped onto the white traffic lines and slipped and fell.

I don't understand what this means.

You were outside, and the painted lines in the street were slippery in the rain?

Which part of this is Target's fault?
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I think in general if you feel you are in a position to sue, then you shouldn't accept anything from the other party. I'm not sure it sounds like you have a case either way.
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Negligent infliction of emotional distress

don't actually sue for this
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Then why would you sue them? It's not like they control the rain.
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Lol is this a serious topic? Why is it Target's fault that you slipped and fell?
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HashtagSEP posted...

If this was outside, then no, there's no claim you can make and it likely was just an automatic call without the actual details

It was definitely a live person, as she asked questions about the incident. She knew it took place outside and still asked if I wanted to make a claim.

ChaosTonyV4 posted...

Skyridge87 posted...

I inadvertently stepped onto the white traffic lines and slipped and fell.

I don't understand what this means.

You were outside, and the painted lines in the street were slippery in the rain?

Which part of this is Target's fault?

premises liability is a thing, but there's a ton of information we don't have

also if your injuries don't require medical care it's probably not worth the hassle
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ChaosTonyV4 posted...

Skyridge87 posted...

I inadvertently stepped onto the white traffic lines and slipped and fell.

I don't understand what this means.

You were outside, and the painted lines in the street were slippery in the rain?

Which part of this is Target's fault?

Yeah, this is basically what I'm asking.

Places don't put "wet floor" signs outside when it's raining because... C'mon. >_>
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EndOfDiscOne posted...

Lol is this a serious topic? Why is it Target's fault that you slipped and fell?

Because they literally offered for me to make a claim. I wouldn't even be making this topic had they not.

And yes, sue was the wrong word to use.

EDIT: Not once did I go to someone and say "compensate me for this". This was all Target acting on their own accord.

Skyridge87 posted...

HashtagSEP posted...

If this was outside, then no, there's no claim you can make and it likely was just an automatic call without the actual details

It was definitely a live person, as she asked questions about the incident. She knew it took place outside and still asked if I wanted to make a claim.

Well, they probably have to ask that.

Slipping outside because of rain isn't something you can make a case out of, unless they specifically had something there that would cause it, such as a tarp. Traffic lines don't count since... Those have to be there.
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Shaduln posted...

Then why would you sue them? It's not like they control the rain.

negligent use of improper paint (i.e . paint that is known to get very slipperyin rain) could be a source of liability (assuming they were in control of that decision... and assuming a ton of other things)
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Skyridge87 posted...

No, the cut on my ankle is still tender and I keep a bandage+neosporin on it, but other than that I'm fine.

get em for all they're worth
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Be the better man and say no, it was your mistake. Don't file a claim.
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I don't know what the claim entails. What did you tell the Target people about your incident and your injuries?

I guess you'd need to get more details about the slip. Was it because the parking lot was in bad shape? Did employees not follow procedures?

If they've replaced your groceries in full and were 100% at fault I'm not seeing what you could even sue for. What would you want out of a claim?
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slipping outside in the rain is absolutely something you can make a claim out of. anybody who says otherwise is ignorant of the figurative mountain of precedent in the matter
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digiiiiiiiii posted...

slipping outside in the rain is absolutely something you can make a claim out of. anybody who says otherwise is ignorant of the figurative mountain of precedent in the matter

I've definitely heard of this with snow and ice, when people have been able to prove management should have known of the weather/danger, but has this really happened with just rain and no other factors?
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I mean if they replaced the groceries and made the effort to let you know this path was available to you, no need to stick it to them. If they had stuck their nose up and been like "Nah it's all your fault and we won't replace your stuff" then on principle milk it for all it's worth, but in this case no need to cause yourself and them a hassle unless , as was said, it was a serious injury that required monetary compensation.
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HashtagSEP posted...

digiiiiiiiii posted...

slipping outside in the rain is absolutely something you can make a claim out of. anybody who says otherwise is ignorant of the figurative mountain of precedent in the matter

I've definitely heard of this with snow and ice, when people have been able to prove management should have known of the weather/danger, but has this really happened with just rain and no other factors?

Yes?
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of course digi is the dude advocating for filing a claim here lmao
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I don't think he was advocating for him to file a claim, just that a claim could be filed.
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Wait...


Isn't this literally how @UltimaterializerX made his money?
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SupremeZero posted...

HashtagSEP posted...

digiiiiiiiii posted...

slipping outside in the rain is absolutely something you can make a claim out of. anybody who says otherwise is ignorant of the figurative mountain of precedent in the matter

I've definitely heard of this with snow and ice, when people have been able to prove management should have known of the weather/danger, but has this really happened with just rain and no other factors?

Yes?

The key thing is "no other factors," though. In cases like that, you'd have to prove the store was negligent or created an unsafe environment. Hell, states like Georgia even have law that say people should be aware steps/such are slippery when it rains, and thus can't sue over it.

Rain is a bit different from snow and ice because there's no reasonable way to deal with rain, so he'd have to prove it was new paint or paint with improper materials, which gets into the "other factors" deal.
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HotDogButts posted...

of course digi is the dude advocating for filing a claim here lmao

im not seeing any advocation by him

just a fact
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Ulti won the lottery I think
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An insurance claim isn't sticking it to them, but what's the claim for? I'm going to guess you didn't go to the emergency room/doctor.

Perhaps they do have some policy that will result in some compensation, like maybe it's easier for them to write small checks to people that are willing to make claims.
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HashtagSEP posted...

SupremeZero posted...

HashtagSEP posted...

digiiiiiiiii posted...

slipping outside in the rain is absolutely something you can make a claim out of. anybody who says otherwise is ignorant of the figurative mountain of precedent in the matter

I've definitely heard of this with snow and ice, when people have been able to prove management should have known of the weather/danger, but has this really happened with just rain and no other factors?

Yes?

The key thing is "no other factors," though. In cases like that, you'd have to prove the store was negligent or created an unsafe environment. Hell, states like Georgia even have law that say people should be aware steps/such are slippery when it rains, and thus can't sue over it.

Rain is a bit different from snow and ice because there's no reasonable way to deal with rain, so he'd have to prove it was new paint or paint with improper materials, which gets into the "other factors" deal.

Again, Paint.
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SupremeZero posted...

HashtagSEP posted...

SupremeZero posted...

HashtagSEP posted...

digiiiiiiiii posted...

slipping outside in the rain is absolutely something you can make a claim out of. anybody who says otherwise is ignorant of the figurative mountain of precedent in the matter

I've definitely heard of this with snow and ice, when people have been able to prove management should have known of the weather/danger, but has this really happened with just rain and no other factors?

Yes?

The key thing is "no other factors," though. In cases like that, you'd have to prove the store was negligent or created an unsafe environment. Hell, states like Georgia even have law that say people should be aware steps/such are slippery when it rains, and thus can't sue over it.

Rain is a bit different from snow and ice because there's no reasonable way to deal with rain, so he'd have to prove it was new paint or paint with improper materials, which gets into the "other factors" deal.

Again, Paint.

I kinda touched on that. >_>
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I think i am going to make it my profession to walk in all the parkinglots whenever it rains or snows.
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depends on the risk:reward ratio, i'd say
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LOLIAmAnAlt posted...

I think i am going to make it my profession to walk in all the parkinglots whenever it rains or snows.

there are people that do this
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http://i.imgur.com/FJrqJc0.png
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even if you did win (which is a longshot for the reasons weaku/SEP said), what damages are you even hoping to get? the cost of a bandage and neosporin?

HashtagSEP posted...

digiiiiiiiii posted...

slipping outside in the rain is absolutely something you can make a claim out of. anybody who says otherwise is ignorant of the figurative mountain of precedent in the matter

I've definitely heard of this with snow and ice, when people have been able to prove management should have known of the weather/danger, but has this really happened with just rain and no other factors?

I dunno about other states, but at least in Illinois, you can't recover for injuries caused by natural accumulations of rain/ice/snow, regardless of what the management knew or didn't know. You can only recover if you show it was "unnatural" in some way (e.g., a bad gutter system caused accumulation of ice in an area, or there was slippery paint).

There's a case where the landlord always kept the sidewalks clear, but one morning he didn't. Plaintiff left her place in the morning, assumed everything was clear like usual, and slipped on a near-invisible layer of ice. Too bad. Natural ice, no recovery.
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Gatarix posted...

what damages are you even hoping to get? the cost of a bandage and neosporin?

That was one of the questions I asked in the opening post.

I slipped on my sidewalk, but unfortunately there were no businesses around to sue.

3DSRage posted...

I slipped on my sidewalk, but unfortunately there were no businesses around to sue.

Did your city pay for the sidewalk? There's nothing sweeter than suing for taxpayer money.
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