Some People May Call Me Heartless, BUT. . . .

I think the lawsuit filed by the family of the man killed at the Valley Stream Wal-Mart is motivated by greed & nothing else.

They claim that Wal-Mart caused his death by "'the carelessness, reckless negligence, wanton disregard for public safety and gross negligence' in the "'staging, conducting and advertising for sales events.'"(Family of man trampled at Wal-Mart sues retailer)

The early reports left out 1 fact that should have been at the forefront of the story. The man died trying to shield a pregnant shopper from the throngs of bargain hunters pushing their way in. He is a hero for doing what he could to protect 2 lives. He should be treated as 1. Instead, he is becoming a cash cow as well as a rod to beat the back of Wal-Mart.

Like I said in my original post, the reality is that this is the people who let greed get the better of them. No matter how much you plan it is impossible to prepare for every contingency when you are dealing with a crowd of ignorant people. Having worked in retail, I say that as a fact.

I wish they could identify those people who stampeded out of greed & ignorance. But you can't sue 2000 unknown people so you go after the place that gave him a job in the 1st place. The place that hired him to help deal with this in the 1st place. & they are suing the owner of the mall & security company. They are contemplating an action against the police and the county of Nassau as well.

1 of the things that gets me is the claim that Wal-Mart didn't properly prepare. They did the same that every other Wal-Mart that isn't a 24 hr Wal-Mart did. The other stores didn't do anything different. Yet they didn't have the problems. Why? Because of how the people behaved, not what the store did or didn't do.

I feel sorry for the family's loss. But to start the lawsuit less than a week after his death (it was filed Wednesday) makes it seem like they aren't as broken up as they claim. Otherwise, the lawyer who is handling the case, Jordan Hecht of the Hecht, Kleeger, Pintel and Damashek Law Firm, is 1 of those lawyers who will use them to line his pockets.

I know I'd never make the jury since I worked in retail. But if I did, I would award Wal-Mart money to pay for their expenses, out of the lawyer's pockets.