Spring is the time when many people head outdoors to refresh their yards. Planting flowers, spreading fresh mulch, fertilizing lawns, and updating garden beds are all part of the season. To get the supplies needed for these projects, homeowners often visit the outdoor garden and landscaping departments at large retail stores such as Lowe’s, Home Depot, and Walmart.
These outdoor shopping areas are convenient because they place everything you need for landscaping in one place, like plants, soil, mulch, fertilizers, decorative stones, and gardening tools. However, the way these products are often displayed can create a serious trip-and-fall safety concern that many shoppers do not immediately notice.
Hidden Dangers in Outdoor Garden Centers
Unlike indoor aisles that are carefully organized, outdoor landscaping departments frequently have limited space and a large amount of inventory. To store and display all these products, stores often place merchandise directly on the ground using the same wooden pallets the items were delivered on. While pallets are convenient for storing and moving heavy products, they can become dangerous when left in customer walkways or placed where shoppers are not expecting them.
Pallet-related hazards become even more problematic because customers are typically focused on browsing the merchandise. Bright flowers, plants, and seasonal displays naturally draw the eye upward and away from the ground.
At the same time, many pallets are partially hidden by the products sitting on them, so they become even more difficult to notice in the corner of the eye. Plants may grow or spill over the edges of the pallet. Bags of soil or mulch can obscure the pallet’s outline. From a distance, the pallet can blend into the surrounding displays, making it difficult to see until it is too late.
When shoppers are moving through crowded walkways while looking at plants and gardening products, it becomes surprisingly easy to trip over these low-profile obstacles.
Someone who trips on a pallet in an outdoor garden center might suffer from:
- Broken bones
- Head injuries or concussions
- Back or spinal injuries
- Torn ligaments or soft tissue damage
- Cuts and bruises from the fall
Stores are Responsible for Pallet Tripping Hazards
Retail stores have a legal duty to maintain reasonably safe premises for their customers. When a dangerous condition exists, such as a pallet tripping hazard in a customer walkway, the store may be responsible if it knew or should have known about the risk and failed to correct it.
In many cases involving pallet hazards, an important issue is notice. Large retail stores often have records of prior incidents involving similar hazards. If a store has experienced repeated accidents caused by pallets in outdoor shopping areas, that history can demonstrate that the company was aware of the risk. On the other hand, no prior accidents are necessary to prove the store’s negligence under premise liability laws if the pallet was placed in a way that a reasonable person would think could cause a customer to trip.
What to Do If Tripped on a Garden Center Pallet
If you or someone you love is injured after tripping over a pallet or another hazard in an outdoor garden center or retail shopping area, it is important to take the situation seriously.
Steps that may help protect your rights include:
- Reporting the incident to store management
- Documenting the hazard and the surrounding area with photos
- Seeking medical attention for your injuries
- Speaking with a local attorney who handles premises liability claims
Acting quickly can be important because surveillance footage, incident reports, and other key evidence may only be preserved for a limited time.
Call Our Lawyers If You Tripped in an Outdoor Garden Center
At Meyerkord Law Group in St. Louis, we previously represented a client who tripped over a pallet in an outdoor garden center and suffered injuries. That case resolved for $90,000 and in a relatively short amount of time because we discovered the store had ignored a long history of similar accidents. While every case is different and past case results do not guarantee future outcomes, the case highlighted how knowledgeable use of evidence can put pressure on a defendant.
If you were injured in an outdoor landscaping department at a large retail store in St. Louis or the surrounding region, call (314) 500-6000 and schedule a FREE consultation with our firm.