Kansas City Clothing Store Accident Attorney

Going from one clothing store to another can be an exciting and thrilling experience, but not so much when you get injured in the process. Americans love shopping and trying on new clothes in retail stores despite the fact that shopping malls are closing at an exponential rate in Missouri and all across the United States.

No matter how harmless and fun clothing stores seem, thousands of people get injured in shopping-related accidents each year. Unfortunately, only about half of these people choose to pursue a premises liability claim against the owner of the property on which they sustained a shopping-related injury.

“More often than not, clothing store accidents occur due to the store’s inability to ensure a safe environment for its customers,” says our Kansas City clothing store accident attorney from Mayer & Rosenberg, P.C. “The injured shopper is at fault for the accident in only a small percentage of these cases.”

Shopping-related injuries

Clothing store-related injuries and their severity depend on the nature of the accident and how it occurred. These injuries range from minor to severe and include but are not limited to back and neck injuries, traumatic brain injuries, broken bones, sprains, cuts and lacerations, and many more.

Needless to say, the risk of getting injured in a clothing store accident or any other shopping-related accident rises significantly during the holiday season (in particular, during Black Friday).

Types of clothing store accident injuries

Our experienced clothing store accident attorney Kansas City outlines the most common types of shopping-related accidents as follows:

• Slip and fall accidents as a result of wet and slippery floors, torn carpets, obstacles on the floor, cracked pavement in the parking lot, inadequate lighting, and many other causes.
• Falling objects, merchandise, hangers, retail displays, parts of the ceiling, and out-of-reach objects from top shelves.
• Shopping cart accidents due to the shopping cart tipping over.
• Overcrowding or trampling accidents as a result of the store’s failure to manage the number of customers in the store at a given time or its inability to ensure that the number of customers does not exceed the store’s physical capacity.
• Escalator and elevator accidents due to defects or malfunctioning of the escalator or elevator or their parts and components (this can be caused by improper inspection and maintenance).
• Parking lot accidents. If a clothing store has its own parking lot, the owner of that store is equally responsible for any accidents and incidents that occur on the parking lot.
• Assaults, battery and sexual assaults. If you have ever shopped in a clothing store – or any other retail store, for that matter – during the Black Friday craze, you probably know that assaults and battery are very likely in clothing stores. Unfortunately, sexual assaults can take place in clothing stores, particularly dressing rooms.

How to sue a retail store for your injury?

Seeking compensation for your clothing store accident injury will require both time and effort. Our Kansas City retail store accident lawyer explains that in order to sue the owner of a commercial property for your injury under the legal theory of premises liability, you will have to establish the following elements of your claim:

1. The owner of the clothing store or his/her personnel knew or reasonably should have known through the exercise of due diligence about the hazardous condition on the property;
2. The owner of the store failed to regularly inspect the store for dangerous conditions and maintain it in a reasonable way to ensure the safety of the store’s customers;
3. The clothing store accident would not have occurred had the owner of the store fixed or eliminated the dangerous condition;
4. There is a direct or proximate relation between the dangerous condition in the retail store and your injury; and
5. You suffered injury, damages, and/or losses as a result of the dangerous condition on the property.