Target Store Slip and Fall Injury and Accident Claims

There are many injury claims, settlements and verdicts in personal injury cases with Florida Target Stores.You may have a case if Target’s carelessness causes your injury in Florida.

There is a ton of information on this site about Florida slip and fall claims and other types of cases.  Here, I focus on Florida Target cases.

A great way for me to talk about slip and fall injury claims with Florida Target stores is to go over past cases.

Target Offers Around $24K for steroid Injection After Slip and Fall

This is not my case.  Gauthier v. Target Corporation, Dist. Court, MD Florida 2018 is a lawsuit that arose from a November 21, 2015 slip and fall.  Gauthier allegedly fell while shopping in a Target store in Jacksonville, Florida.

In her settlement demand letter, Gauthier’s attorney counsel claimed that she:

now has to live with pain medications, physical therapy and injections for the rest of her life. . . . There is no question that Ms. Gauthier . . . will continue to suffer more pain in the future.”

Target states that Gauthier underwent “low back epidural steroid injections” (“ESI”) on February 23, 2017.  Target had medical bills that show charges of $3,841.33 related to an ESI on February 23, 2017.

Gauthier sued in state court.  Target removed the case to federal court.  As you will see from this article, Target prefers federal court over state court.

The federal court said that:

Gauthier’s contention that she will need such injections for the rest of her life further supports a finding that the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000.

Basically, Target argued that the amount in dispute was over $75,000.  Gauthier tried to get the case back to state court.

Gauthier’s first settlement offer was for $1 million, and its last offer prior to Target removing the case to federal court was for $175,000.

Target’s counter-offers have hovered around $24,000.

Gauthier had already incurred expenses of $63,630.11.  She had a  reasonable likelihood of future losses and expenses.  Thus, the federal court said that Target has shown it is more likely than not that the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000.

The federal court denied her request to send the case back to state court.  The case is ongoing in federal court.

Slip and Fall Lawsuit against St. Petersburg Target Sent Back to State Court

This is not my case.  Mujkic claimed that she had a slip and fall accident at a Target store located in St. Petersburg, Florida on December 21, 2014.

She stated in her lawsuit that she was suing for over $15,000.00 Dollars.

Mujkic claims that as a result of Target’s negligence, she suffered “bodily injuries resulting in:

• Loss of earnings
• Loss of ability to earn money
• Past medical expenses and Future medical expenses
• Pain and suffering
• Disability, Scarring and disfigurement, Mental anguish
• Inconvenience, Loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life
• Aggravation of a pre-existing condition,

Target said that before she sued, her attorney had produced past medical expenses which were less than $15,000.  Her attorney had discussed that her client may need surgery in the future.

However, she provided a note from the physician that the patient is not interested in surgery.

Mujkic’s lawyer later stated that her doctor, Dr. Chen, gave the opinion that her disc herniation is a permanent injury and is related to the slip and fall.

He said that the total cost of a disc decompression surgery ranges from $42,000-$50,000. Her medical bills totaled $16,689.95.

She is scheduled to have the disc decompression surgery on January 8, 2016.

The projected future medical expenses, whether taken at the low end of $42,000 or the maximum estimation of $50,000 (when combined with the medical damages so far incurred of $16,689.95) do not meet the threshold of $75,000.  Thus, the court refused to remove (bring) this lawsuit to federal court.

The case was sent back to state court.  Florida personal injury lawyers like to keep slip and fall cases in state court.

They believe that the case has less chance of being dismissed in state court.  Target wants to defend slip and fall cases in federal court.

The case is Mujkic v. Target Corporation, Dist. Court, MD Florida 2015.

Court Dismisses Lawsuit for Slip and Fall in Bakery Section of Target

This is not my case.  See why a court dismissed a shopper’s lawsuit against a Naples, Florida Target. She didn’t know what caused her to slip and fall in the bakery section.

Shopper Wins $12,000 against Target

See a $12,000 verdict where a shopper claimed that she slipped on a puddle of liquid inside a Target store in West Kendall, Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Target denied fault.  She claimed a cervical herniated disc, patella fracture, and surgery on her torn meniscus.

Jury Says Target Didn’t Cause Guest’s Slip and Fall Injuries; Guest Loses

See why a West Palm Beach court said that items that were regularly on a Target store floor was enough to get a guest’s case to trial.  She lost at trial.

Date of Verdict: May 29, 2015.

Target Must Give Shopper Store Surveillance Video Before Deposition

In Sowell, Mary Sowell sued Target Corporation.

After suing Target, Sowell asked Target for the surveillance video of her fall.  Target asked the court to not require it to give Sowell a store surveillance video depicting her slip and fall accident.

Tip: A store surveillance video may be a huge part of a slip and fall victim’s case.  This is because it may eliminate a “he said, she said.”

In the alternative, Target asked the court to allow it to withhold giving the video to Sowell until after her deposition (verbally sworn recorded statement under oath).  The court denied Target’s request.

The court required Target to produce the surveillance video for inspection and copying prior to Sowell’s deposition.  This is good for Sowell because the video can help refresh her recollection of the events leading up to the fall, the fall itself, and the events after the fall.

Target’s wants the injured person to make inconsistent statements, so that it may make the claimant seem that they do not have an accurate recollection of the slip and fall details.

Discussion

Target said that the video taken by its store cameras would have been erased in the ordinary course of business after a period of time but instead was preserved and maintained under the direction and policies of Target’s claims department.

Target did not submit any evidence regarding its policy, if any, for recording over surveillance tapes or any evidence identifying the policy of Target for retaining the video when there is an accident in the store.

As a basis for requiring Target to give Sowell the video, it cited the case of Schulte v. NCL (Bahamas) Ltd., no. 10-23265-CIV, 2011 WL 256542 (S.D. Fla. Jan. 25, 2011) where the Court said that a surveillance video of a slip and fall incident aboard a cruise ship must be given to the claimant.

This case is Sowell v. Target Corporation, Dist. Court, ND Florida 2014.  The United States District Court, N.D. Florida, Panama City Division issued its ruling on May 28, 2014.

Slip and Falls on the Sales Floor

Take pictures of any substance on the floor if you slip and fall at Target.  Take a close up (seen above).

Take pictures from further away as well (as seen above).

Slip and Falls near Check Out Areas at Targets Stores in Florida

A customer may slip and fall on a substance near the checkout counter of a Target Store.  The customer should take pictures of the substance.

Pictures should be taken from:

• Close up and far away; and
• Multiple angles

A customer needs to prove that Target had actual or constructive notice of the hazard on the floor before the fall.

Accidents in a Starbucks store inside a Florida Target Store

Many Target Stores in Florida have a Starbucks inside.  Starbuck’s carelessness may cause a customer to get injured.

If so, the customer may have an injury case against Starbucks.  The most likely claim in this area would be if a person slips on moisture.

This includes water, coffee, lemonade, whip cream or another liquid.  Someone may also trip and fall over a mat or object.

Starbucks should inspect its mats to make sure that they have good traction on the bottom.

I have settled many slip and fall cases for people hurt in Florida or on a cruise.  The verdicts below against Target are not my cases.

Injured Shopper Was Required to Give Target Her Facebook Photos

In her personal injury lawsuit, Nucci claimed that on February 4, 2010, she slipped and fell on a foreign substance on the floor of a Target store. In the lawsuit, she claimed the following:

• Suffered bodily injury
• Experienced pain from the injury
• Incurred medical, hospital, and nursing expenses, suffered physical handicap
• Suffered emotional pain and suffering
• Lost earnings
• Lost the ability to earn money
• Lost or suffered a diminution of ability to enjoy her life
• Suffered aggravation of preexisting injuries
• Suffered permanent or continuing injuries
• Will continue to suffer the losses and impairment in the future

Target took Nucci’s deposition on September 4, 2013. Before the deposition, Target’s lawyer viewed Nucci’s Facebook profile and saw that it contained 1,285 photographs.  Target’s lawyer examined Nucci’s Facebook profile two days after the deposition and saw that it listed only 1,249 photographs.

The case is Nucci v. Target Corporation, Fla: Dist. Court of Appeals, 4th Dist. 2015, Maria Nucci sued Target for her personal injury.  This is not my case.

The claimant had two Florida lawyers.  One was from Orlando, Orange County, Florida.  The other was from Fort Lauderdale.

Target was defended by Nicolette N. John and Thomas W. Paradise of Vernis & Bowling of Broward, P.A., in Hollywood, Broward County, Florida.

The appeals court required her to give Target photographs from her Facebook account.

Warning! Do not delete photographs on Facebook or any other social network.

Court Dismisses Slip and Fall against Target Store in Pembroke Pines, Florida

A shopper was badly hurt from her slip and fall at Target.  The case was dismissed because she couldn’t prove Target was at fault.

Slip and Fall on Wet Floor at Target in Davie, Broward County, Florida Survives Dismissal

In Garcia v. Target Corporation, Dist. Court, SD Florida 2014, Rosa Garcia sued Target Corporation and its store manager.  While exiting the Target store, she slipped and fell.

Target tried to have the case dismissed based on Delgado v. Laundromax, Inc., 65 So.3d 1087 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.2011).  Her attorney also argued that the footprints in the water create a question of fact as to Target’s constructive notice.

Learn about this case, and why a South Florida judge let a customer’s slip and fall on water in a Davie, Broward County, Target store survive dismissal and head towards trial.  The court issued its ruling on February 6, 2014.

Customer Loses Case Where She Slipped on Rainwater and Fell at Target

Marie Corrine Doudeau sued Target Corporation.  The case was appealed to United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

Doudeau was shopping at the Target store in Hollywood, Broward County, Florida, with her daughter, Danielle Bohenstiel, on August 1, 2011.

It had been raining intermittently and there was standing water in the parking lot and the area in front of the store.

Doudeau proceeded to the back of the store and walked around the entire store before heading back towards the front. She was in the front of the store, near the “One Spot,” which was located approximately ten to fifteen feet from where the carpet at the entrance of the store ended.

While holding onto the side of her daughter’s shopping cart and walking, Doudeau slipped and fell to the floor.  Doudeau testified that she landed in a twelve-inch puddle of clean water that had no tracks or footprints in it.

The district (trial) court granted summary judgment in favor of Target Corporation in her personal injury lawsuit.  Doudeau appealed.  The appeals court said that the district court relied primarily upon two cases in its decision.

In Sammon v.Target Corporation, 2012 WL 3984728 (M.D. Fla. 2012), the court granted summary judgment (dismissal) to Target because it held that the claimant had not shown constructive or actual knowledge on the part of the corporation.

The court pointed out that it had not been raining and there was no indication of how the water claimant slipped in had gotten on the floor.

Similarly, in the other case, Delgado v. Laundromax, Inc., 65 So.2d 1087 (Fla. 3d DCA 2011), the court granted summary judgment to the Laundromax because the claimant provided no evidence that the Laundromax had constructive or actual knowledge of the presence of water on the floor at a laundromat.

There, too, the court pointed out that there was no evidence that it was raining or had rained, which would have provided the source of the water.  Learn more about slip and fall injury claims against Florida laundromats.

By contrast, in Doudeau, the appeals court said that there was testimony that it had been raining and there was standing water in the parking lot.

Further, an employee who helped Doudeau after she fell stated that the water must have been tracked in from outside. Another Target employee testified that the area ten to fifteen feet away, where the carpet met the tile, was a known slip and fall area when it rained.

The appeals court said that although the district (trial) court assumed that this area—with respect to which a Target employee said was a known slippery area when it rained—was “an entirely different location of the store from where the claimant fell,” a reasonable jury could find otherwise.

While the district court stated that the testimony of Target employee Michael Protz was that he had walked through the area less than four minutes before the fall and there was nothing there, Protz actually testified that he did not see anything on the floor.

A review of the surveillance video shows Protz walking through the area but his gaze is not on the floor but instead at the customers, which would be logical given that Protz is in charge of loss protection.

That same surveillance footage does not reveal any water being spilled on the floor between Protz’s walkthrough and Doudeau’s fall.

These facts, taken in the light most favorable to the claimant, support a reasonable inference that Target had constructive knowledge that rainwater could create a slippery floor in the area where Doudeau fell and that the water could have been on the floor long enough for Target discover it.

The appeals court reversed the trial court and let the case proceed to trial.  However, the jury returned a defense verdict for Target in October 2014.  The shopper gets no compensation.

The appeals decision prior to the trial is Doudeau v. Target Corporation, Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit 2014.  It issued an opinion on July 25, 2014.

Court Dismisses Shopper’s Slip and Fall on Clear Liquid Case

In Feliciano, Arcadia Feliciano sued Target Corporation.  The case was heard in the United States District Court, M.D. Florida, Fort Myers Division.

The court issued an order on May 27, 2014.

Background

On August 23, 2011, Claimant visited Target’s retail store (the “Store”) located at 8040 Mediterranean Drive, Estero, Florida. While shopping, she slipped and fell on a clear liquid substance on the floor and sustained personal injuries.

She said the liquid on the store’s floor may have been water or oil, but she did not know for certain. She did not see the liquid before falling because she was pushing a shopping cart and not looking at the floor.

Tip: It helps the injured person’s case if they did not see the liquid before the fall.  Less comparative negligence is generally attributed to the slip and fall victim.

On the other hand, if you saw the liquid before you fell, or should have seen it, then your claim value is lower.

The liquid was about the size of notebook paper and was “clear, clear, very clear, clean.”  She did not see footprints, shopping cart tracks, or any other indication that someone had walked through the liquid.

She did not know how long the substance had been on the Store’s floor before she fell.  None of Target’s employees told her how the spill got on the Store’s floor. Sometime during her slip and fall, she made an oral statement to Target, which was documented in its Guest Incident Report.

After receiving her statement, Target wiped up the liquid on the floor.  Target has a general rule for detecting and correcting unsafe conditions: “[A]ll employees are trained to continually look out and inspect the premises to identify and correct possible unsafe conditions in an effort to keep the Store reasonably safe for Guests and Team Members.”

Before August 23, 2011, she frequented the Store approximately once per month and never noticed any liquid spills or debris on the floor. On February 27, 2013, she sued Target, claiming that they negligently maintained the Store’s premises and failed to warn her of a dangerous condition that it knew or should have known existed.

After discovery closed on April 4, 2014, Target moved for summary judgment (dismissal), arguing that it did not breach its duty to her and that she failed to present evidence that it had actual or constructive knowledge of the condition that caused her to slip under Florida law.

Basically, Target asked the court to dismiss the case.  The court said mere presence of liquid on the floor is not enough to establish constructive knowledge.

The undisputed material evidence shows that the shopper couldn’t establish the essential elements of her negligence claims under Florida law.  Target did not cause the liquid on which claimant slipped to be on the floor; therefore, it did not have actual knowledge of the liquid to remedy it.

To establish Target’s liability, therefore, Feliciano must show that Target had constructive knowledge of the liquid.  The evidence does not support such a finding.

In fact, the evidence suggests a lack of notice, as Feliciano described the liquid as “clear, clear, very clear, clean.” She saw no footprints or shopping cart tracks through the liquid.

There is no evidence of the liquid’s source or how long it remained on the floor.  Without such evidence, the Court cannot find the liquid was on the floor for such a length of time that Target should have known about it.

There is no indication that spills or other debris regularly occurred such that the dangerous condition on the Store’s floor was foreseeable to Target. In fact, Feliciano said that she had never noticed any liquid spills or debris on the Store’s floor during one of her regular trips to the Store prior to the incident.

Feliciano did not have evidence that Target’s employees neglected their ongoing responsibility to look for and correct any unsafe floor conditions in the store during their work hours.

The Court dismissed her case.  The case is Feliciano v. Target Corporation, Dist. Court, MD Florida 2014.

Court Dismisses Case Where Shopper Stumbled and Right Knee Touched Ground

A lady claimed that she was injured when she slipped and fell in Target’s parking lot on November 23, 2010.

She claimed that she was exiting Target’s store with a coffee cup in her hand when she slipped on the slick wet walkway and suddenly and violently fell forward, striking her right knee and body against the hard concrete walkway, and as a result she severely injured her right knee, right shoulder, back and neck and suffered other injuries.

During the lawsuit, she answered a written question by swearing that her slip-and-fall had resulted in injuries to her “neck, right upper extremity from shoulder to finger tips, right flank, low back, right hip and right knee,” including a “herniated disk in her neck, the SLAP tear in her right shoulder, and the medial meniscal tear in her right knee . . . .”

Her medical records likewise evinced that she had complained to her doctor about pain in her neck, right shoulder, right hip, right knee, and right ankle.

In her deposition (sworn verbal testimony), she testified that:

1. On the day of the accident, she fell on her right knee.

2. Her right arm flew up and back during the fall, causing her injury.

3. She was then helped to her feet by an elderly couple. The elderly couple advised her to report the accident.  They then walked her into Target’s store to complete an incident report.

After she testified, she was shown a surveillance video of her accident.  That video showed that as she was walking across Target’s parking lot, she stumbled slightly and her left knee—not her right knee— momentarily touched the ground.

She then stood up on her own, briefly looked around, and continued walking.  After seeing the video, she admitted that the video showed her and her accident, and then began complaining that her “left knee hurts” too.

The court dismissed the case because it said that all of her claims fly in the face of the undisputed surveillance video of her slip-and-fall incident.

To be sure, the video shows her exiting Target’s store with a cup of coffee in her right hand. As she crossed the parking lot, she stumbled slightly and her left knee briefly touched the ground. No other part of her body touched the ground.

Nor did Plaintiff’s arm flail backwards. Nor did an elderly couple—let alone anyone at all— help her to her feet and escort her inside Target’s store. Instead, after rising to her feet, she briefly looked around before continuing to walk into the parking lot.

After several seconds, she turned around and headed back towards Target’s store.

The court dismissed her case because it said that she did not “suddenly and violently fall forward, striking her right knee and body against the hard concrete walkway” in Target’s parking lot, as she alleged, the Court finds that dismissal for Target is proper is warranted.

The court didn’t mention what she claimed that Target did wrong that caused her fall.

My thoughts:  Don’t ever lie about the facts of your accident.  The court may dismiss your case.

The case is Bencosme v. Target Corporation, Dist. Court, SD Florida 2014.  The court issued its ruling on May 13, 2014.

Court Dismisses Guest’s Slip and Fall on Clear Water with Surrounding Clean Floor at Target

Case: In Berard v. Target Corporation, Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit 2014, Tammy Berard sued Target Corporation.

While shopping at one of Target’s stores, Berard slipped on a liquid substance on the floor. Although Berard did not fall, she suffered personal injuries as a result of the incident.

Berard did not argue — and nothing evidenced — either that Target caused the spill or had actual knowledge of the spill. Thus, to establish Target’s liability under the statute, Berard needed to show that Target had constructive knowledge of the spill.

Berard testified that:

• The liquid substance on the floor appeared to be water.
• The liquid was “clean,” “clear,” and not “dirty.”
• The area around the spill was “clean and dry”
• Although the spill was in a high traffic area of the store, Berard saw no footprints, cart tracks, or other marks through the spill.

Both Berard’s daughter-in-law (who was with Berard at the time of the incident) and Target’s store manager described the spill as appearing to be fresh.

The appeals court said that viewing this evidence in the light most favorable to Berard, she has not shown that the spill existed for such a length of time that Target should have known about it.

The court said that Berard’s argument that Target should be held liable under a theory of negligent mode of operation does not apply foreclosed by her testimony that she was a regular shopper at Target’s store, that the store always appeared to be clean and well-maintained, and that Target had done nothing wrong to contribute to the incident.

If the injured person’s testimony that the facility was “always clean”, you cannot win on theory of negligent operation . Berard provided no evidence that her injuries resulted from a mode of operation employed negligently by Target.

*The court said that the negligent mode of operation theory merely recognizes the common-sense proposition of negligence law that the duty of care required under the circumstances may consist of taking reasonable precautions so as to minimize or eliminate the likelihood of a dangerous condition arising in the first instance.

My thoughts: This case implies that Target may be liable under a theory of negligent mode of operation in certain cases.  The court’s ruling was on April 4, 2014.

Court Dismisses Shopper’s Slip and Fall on Slick Floor at Palm Beach Gardens Target Store

Faith Gordon and Steven Gordon sued Target Corporation.  The United States District Court, S.D. Florida heard the case.

This is not my case, though I have settled many Florida slip and fall claims.

Even though this case is from 2008, it is still important.  It was cited in the 2015 case of Garcia v. Wal-Mart Stores, East, LP, Dist. Court, MD Florida.  (Learn more about slip and fall injury claims against a Florida Walmart).

This Gordon case arose out of a slip and fall which occurred on August 23, 2006 at a Target store located in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.  The customer and her spouse filed their lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Palm Beach County, Florida claiming negligence and loss of consortium.

Learn more about this case, Gordon, where  the court dismissed a shopper’s lawsuit for slip and fall on a slick floor claim against a Target Store in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.  The case is Gordon v. Target Corp., 07-80412-CIV, 2008 WL 2557509 (S.D. Fla. June 2008)

$230,801.92 Verdict against Target when male shopper allegedly slipped and fell on laundry detergent in a Target store in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The shopper claimed that Target should have posted warnings and cleaned up the spill before the fall occurred. The case is Rodney Sapp v. Target.

My thoughts: The verdict was in 2011, which is after the new slip and fall law passed in Florida, but I am not sure which law was applied because the fall happened in 2008.

The current law requires the shopper/customer to prove that the store (Target) knew or should have known the liquid detergent (or any substance) was on the floor before the shopper fell.

I do not know what the injuries are in this case so I do not know whether the verdict for pain and suffering was similar to the typical settlement values for pain and suffering for injuries caused by someone else in Florida. As seen from this case, you may have a case against Target if you slip and fall on liquid on its floors.

Actual Case (not mine): $60,000 verdict for pain and suffering for a shopper who fractured her ankle.  She claimed that she slipped on a worn out and wet carpet at Target in Miami, Florida.

She argued that Target should have fixed the carpet (a dangerous condition) before her fall.

Target blamed her for not paying attention where she was walking. Her husband made a claim for loss of consortium but the jury did not award him any money. The verdict was in 2010.  The case is Hernandez v. Target.

My thoughts: Though I am not 100% certain, I think the entire verdict was for pain and suffering. If so, this verdict is within the range that I use as a starting point for settlement purposes for pain and suffering for an ankle fracture from an accident in Florida caused by someone else. Many juries award give little, if anything, for a loss of consortium claim if the spouse’s injury is not horrible.

$10,000 verdict for pain and suffering for a 75 year old shopper in Target in Miami-Dade County, Florida who fell down. She broke 2 teeth, tore a shoulder (rotator cuff) and had wrist pain. $5,000 was for past pain and suffering and $5,000 was for future pain and suffering.

My thoughts: The jury awarded her $500 a year for her future pain and suffering. I arrived at this amount by using the life tables, which show her life expectancy to be 10 more years. $5,000 divided by 10 is $500 per year.  This verdict for pain and suffering is way below the average settlement for pain and suffering for a torn rotator cuff (shoulder).

Florida Injury Cases Involving Target’s Competitors

I have already talked about some of Target’s competitors.  Learn about Florida slip and fall injury claims with some of Target’s other competitors such as:

• Costco Wholesale slip and fall injury claims in Florida
• Dollar General slip and fall injury claims in Florida
• Sears slip and fall injury claims in Florida
• Big Lots slip and fall injury claims in Florida (Coming Soon)

Did someone’s carelessness cause your injury in an accident in Florida, or on a cruise or boat? 

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