Feds announce Wal-Mart at fault for Thanksgiving stampede death in New York.
New York, NY(NewYorkInjuryNews.com)–Federal regulators with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) http://www.osha.gov, an agency within the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) http://www.dol.gov proposed fining Wal-Mart for the death of a temporary employee on Thanksgiving Day. The federal regulators claim Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest retailer, failed to prevent the death of a temporary employee who was stampeded to death on Black Friday by shoppers.
OSHA wants to fine Wal-Mart $7,000, the amount of money the retail store giant makes in 18 seconds, for inadequate crowd control at a Long Island, New York store reported Newsday. Wal-Mart executives claim the death of Jdimytai Damour, a 6-foot-5, 270 pound, 34 year-old Queens man was unforeseeable. New York personal injury lawyers, employment law litigators, and federal officials disagree. New York police reports reveal Damour, an employee of Wal-Mart for about one week, was trapped inside a vestibule and suffocated when a crowd of about 2,000 shoppers broke down the retailer’s doors to benefit from their pre-dawn bargains. According to Newsday reporters, Wal-Mart earned close to $3 billion on it $93.47 billion in revenues based on the most recent quarterly reports. Retail industry experts state those calculations equate to Wal-Mart earnings of $23,000 a minute.
Wal-Mart and numerous other national retailers actively market and advertise that a select few, “first come first serve shoppers” will benefit from unbelievable bargains if they shop first and early on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. Black Friday is known by retailers and shoppers across the country to be the best day of the year for shopping sales, bargains, and freebees plus the kickoff of the Christmas holiday shopping frenzy. OSHA regulators in New York state the Valley Stream Wal-Mart store could have prevented the worker’s death by effective planning and crowd management. A pregnant woman and 10 other local Long Island shoppers were also seriously injured on the fatal Black Friday in 2008. The $7,000 fine is the maximum allowed under federal regulations guidelines and is imposed when death or serious injury occurs.
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