Shoppers at a Wal-Mart in Valley Stream, NY gave new meaning to the term “Black Friday” last week when an out-of-control mob started a stampede resulting in the death of an employee.
The Long Island branch was set to open for business at 5:00 AM the day after Thanksgiving. Apparently, it wasn’t early enough for the 2,000 people lined up at the locked doors, anxiously awaiting the start of the holiday shopping season.
The horde of shoppers broke through the front doors and charged into the store. In an attempt to ward off the chaos, employees formed a human chain to slow down the frenzied shoppers storming past the front entrance.
Jdimytai Damour, a 34-year-old temporary maintenance worker, was trampled by the mob and died of a heart attack roughly an hour later. Four shoppers, including a woman eight months pregnant, were injured in the incident.
Police officers arriving on the scene couldn’t slow down the raging stampede, which stepped over paramedics trying to perform CPR on Damour. Many shoppers became irate when forced to leave. The sight of an employee being carried into an ambulance didn’t faze the angry horde, who didn’t appreciate being kicked out of the store after waiting on line for hours to start their holiday shopping.
Long Island police claim that Wal-Mart failed to take the necessary steps to provide adequate security for the increase in customers brought on by the Black Friday sales. Hank Mullany, president of Wal-Mart’s northeast division, disagrees with the assessment, claiming that the company added extra security and store associates to accommodate the additional volume of shoppers.
Police haven’t ruled out filing criminal charges yet, but have said that it will be difficult to identify specific shoppers from the surveillance tapes. However, Wal-Mart stands to face a potential wrongful death lawsuit for failing to ensure the safety of their employees.
If you or a loved one has a wrongful death claim in the Long Island, New York area, please contact the law offices of Silberstein, Awad, & Miklos, P.C. today to schedule an initial consultation.
