Dec 3, 2008 7:05 pm US/Eastern
Attorney: Wal-Mart Put 'Profits Ahead Of Safety'
Family Of Trampled Worker Sues Big-Box Giant & Mall, Plans To File Suit Against Nassau Police Department
GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (CBS) ―
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In this still taken from cell phone video, a store employee lies unconscious on the floor of a New York City Wal-Mart after being trampled by a throng of Black Friday shoppers on Nov. 28, 2009. The man was pronounced dead at a hospital.
CBS
Well, you knew it was going to happen: Wal-Mart, the Green Acres Mall, and the security company, all who might have played a role in what led to that horrible stampede last Friday in which a temporary Wal-Mart worker was crushed, are all being sued now by the man's family.
The whole country saw what happened on Long Island last week when a mob of shoppers trying to get an early jump on bargains trampled 34-year-old Jdimytai Damour to death. Attorney Jordan Hecht on Wednesday filed suit against Wal-Mart and related companies at the mall, now on behalf of Damour's family.
"As the crowd was surging, they were pushing a pregnant woman who was up against the glass," Hecht said. "And Jdimytai was trying to get her."
Damour was a temporary worker just starting at Wal-Mart. He was a temporary maintenance worker, not security.
"And when he opened the door, that's when the crowd surged," Hecht said. "And as far as I'm concerned, he's a hero."
Last Friday, Damour's cousin, Nicole Jean, told CBS 2 HD a supervisor told her Damour should never have been placed at that entrance.
"She said she don't know why they sent him at the door," Jean said.
The attorney said he's been told why:
"Because of his size," he said. "I guess it's an imposing size, which, somehow, would quell the crowd. But, that's not how it works."
"No, that was their mistake, to send him to open the door!" Jean said.
Added Hecht: "When you plan an event like this, a 'blitz sale,' which is how they advertise it. They marketed this sale."
When posed the scenario that the store perhaps was trying to jump-start sales due to the bad economy with that type of sale, Hecht softened a bit, but reiterated there's no logical excuse that holds water.
"Well, there's certainly nothing wrong with encouraging people to buy, but you need to do these things with some kind of corporate responsibility," Hecht said.
"This is an instance of corporations putting profits ahead of public safety."
On behalf of the family, Hecht has also filed notice against the Nassau County Police Department, letting them know they will also be sued.
Among the litany of accusations the family is raising against Wal-Mart are: not breaking up the crowd into manageable groups; distributing wristbands; informing the crowd that not everything might be available; and not having personnel trained in crowd control.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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