Retail stores are frequently under fire for negligent behavior. They can be held liable for damages done to employees and consumers under a variety of claims including product liability, employment law violations, personal injury and discrimination. There are thousands of lawsuits filed each year against giant retailers like Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Lowe’s for a variety of reasons and many of them are successful as litigation works to keep them in check for dangerous and illegal practices.
In recent news are the many cases of falling merchandise plagueing the giant super-store big box chains and they are being sued for this negligent behavior. Because of the new practice of keeping inventory on the store-floor, but in high shelving units, many customers have fallen victim to falling items. Reports have shown that Home Depot alone receives more than 200 complaints about falling merchandise every month and in 2000, 3 people were actually killed by falling merchandise in their stores. Wal-Mart is also a consistent offender, admitting to over 17,000 falling merchandise incidents, claims and lawsuit had been filed through the years 1989 to 1994.
There is little industry safety regulation for consumers in regards to this issue. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) doesn’t even inspect for consumer safety in regards to falling merchandise – in fact they will only examine that aspect of a store’s inventory if an employee has been hurt by a falling object. In many cases stores must carry a great deal of inventory, especially during the holidays, and the shelving they have, which has no overflow capacity, is not sufficient.
Retail stores are also being called onto the carpet for negligent treatment of employees. There are class action lawsuits pending against Home Depot, Wal-Mart and Lowe’s for denying overtime to employees and over the exempt vs. non-exempt status of employees and this kind of employee negligence is unacceptable. To shrink store overhead many management teams are being pressured into finding ways around paying employees.
Home Depot has been accused to promoting various people into salaried positions although they spend the majority of their time doing the work of hourly employees. This means that they are denied overtime and in some cases, when they complained, they were fired. Wal-Mart has also been accused of not paying overtime to employees, although their tactics are more arcane, including locking employees in the store after hours and not paying them for the extra labor. Additionally they have been accused of not giving sufficient break time and for not paying for short break and meal time breaks. Lowe’s is also under scrutiny by labor law advocates for improperly paying overtime – although in their case they have used a legal method that is in accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act called the “Fluctuating Work Week.” While the employee is “salaried” and their pay will not increase if they work over 40 hours, they are paid an overtime “premium” for the extra time but that overtime premium is paid at 50% of the employee’s regular rate of pay. All of these practices are a bit slippery and indicate that the retail chains are more interested in lowering their bottom line than in their employee’s best interest.
If you feel you are a victim of retail negligence or if you think someone has violated negligence law and caused you harm you should contact a personal injury lawyer today.