man bit by rattlesnake in walmart FL

http://www.nbc-2.com/Articles/readar...leid=26043&z=3

He sues them, but still shops there?

Ouch. Kinda stupid that hes suing, I wouldn't want untrained walmart employees looking for venomous snakes.... whats he want, snake keepers in all walmarts?

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Originally Posted by Beardedragon

Ouch. Kinda stupid that hes suing, I wouldn't want untrained walmart employees looking for venomous snakes.... whats he want, snake keepers in all walmarts?

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No, no, no. What he wants is FREE MONEY. He's probably saying, Yeay! I got bit by a rattler at Wal-Mart! If he would've been bit out in the woods, he's probably gonna say, Darnit! Bit by a rattler for nothing! :rolleye2:

the funny part is this is like the 3 snake bite at wal-mart in like 3 years.

I could see him suing for the medical bills and some pain and suffering. That's it. Wal-Mart has a responsibility to keep its customers safe from danger. Now, him still going there is slightly amusing, but hey? If it's the only Wal-Mart there; why can't he?

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Originally Posted by Melicious

I could see him suing for the medical bills and some pain and suffering. That's it. Wal-Mart has a responsibility to keep its customers safe from danger. Now, him still going there is slightly amusing, but hey? If it's the only Wal-Mart there; why can't he?

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The bottom line is that some lawyer has assured him that Walmart will settle and just pay him to go away instead of risking a humongous judgment against them in court. And they will. People file ridiculous lawsuits against big companies daily and this cost to them is a large part of why the US can't compete against other Countries where this lawsuit stuff doesn't go on.

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Originally Posted by dsirkle

The bottom line is that some lawyer has assured him that Walmart will settle and just pay him to go away instead of risking a humongous judgment against them in court. And they will. People file ridiculous lawsuits against big companies daily and this cost to them is a large part of why the US can't compete against other Countries where this lawsuit stuff doesn't go on.

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I think the entire situation is screwed up.

My mother just finished going through a justifiable lawsuit a few months ago. We had told the apartment complex AND the maintenance that the top board of our apartment stairs was wobbly. Now, my father's pretty handy, but all of his tools are in storage, so he couldn't fix it. Maintenance didn't either. Dad was taking Mom out to breakfast one morning, and the board launched her down the stairs. She broke her leg in multiple places. We just finished settling. She will always be slightly disabled. She walks with a cane, and every night we have to ice her leg. She didn't ask for 100s of thousands of dollars, but she knew that she deserved something for their negligence.

This guy? He ought to sue for medical bills, "pain and suffering" and be done with it like my mom did. The idea that you can screw over a company of that is just kind of...screwed up. O_o

actually they are responsible for safety in their store.
outside of their store this would probally be considered an act of god.

An Apartment Building owner ignoring complaints of a loose step is just asking for trouble. That's one thing. If you live in an area that has rattlesnakes, there is always a risk that one will find it's way into a building.That would just be part of life where rattlesnakes are indigenous. To me, that's the same thing as living where there are alligators. You wouldn't let a small child or toy size dog play by the water. If a wild alligator attacked your child would you blame the property owner? Lawyers are not good for our society. There are way too many of them to make a productive living.

The wal-mart in our town has problems with the building structure. In 3 years the roof has caved in 3 times. The building was built to the (southern) company regulations, and did not account for our heavy snowfall, so everytime it snows the snow builds up on the roof and it caves in. Now if the "company" cared about safty they would work on the building to stop the roof falling on people. So far no one has been seriously injured, but it is just a matter of time.

I have the same problem with my landlords not listening, our apt stairs are outside, there are some that are loose, and there is no gutter, so all the rain/snow falls on the stairs. The ice build up is horrible, and dangerous. Not to mention that the railing is half rotten, so if you slip and try to grab the railing you go down and so does it.
They could put up a gutter, or extend the roof just enouph to stop the build up, but they don't.
After all the door was broken when we moved in and it took 2 years with 3 breakins for them to get a new one put in.

i agree that he should have just sued for medical and suffering.
but then again its not like walmart cant afford it
I got an email from a friend a couple weeks ago and it was about walmart. One of the points in the email was that walmart makes about 20k per minute.

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Originally Posted by JamieLynn

The wal-mart in our town has problems with the building structure. In 3 years the roof has caved in 3 times. The building was built to the (southern) company regulations, and did not account for our heavy snowfall, so everytime it snows the snow builds up on the roof and it caves in. Now if the "company" cared about safty they would work on the building to stop the roof falling on people. So far no one has been seriously injured, but it is just a matter of time.

I have the same problem with my landlords not listening, our apt stairs are outside, there are some that are loose, and there is no gutter, so all the rain/snow falls on the stairs. The ice build up is horrible, and dangerous. Not to mention that the railing is half rotten, so if you slip and try to grab the railing you go down and so does it.
They could put up a gutter, or extend the roof just enouph to stop the build up, but they don't.
After all the door was broken when we moved in and it took 2 years with 3 breakins for them to get a new one put in.

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walmart was forced to fix all of those buildings also its a known flaw in design by the engineering outfit that walmart solely uses. also note the contractors that build the stores is not payed by walmart for 1 year from completion date

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Originally Posted by matt71915

i agree that he should have just sued for medical and suffering.
but then again its not like walmart cant afford it
I got an email from a friend a couple weeks ago and it was about walmart. One of the points in the email was that walmart makes about 20k per minute.

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Just because Walmart can afford it doesn't make it right for people to take advantage of it. :colbert:

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Originally Posted by anatess

Just because Walmart can afford it doesn't make it right for people to take advantage of it. :colbert:

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nor does it make it right for walmart to make ppl work through their breaks

Sounds like it was in the gardening section which i would assume is outside(like my local Walmart). That would make it alot harder to prove liability as opposed to being inside. If it was inside I think you have a much stronger case. Outside, could fall in the act of God.

If it was in the parking lot would they be liable for snakebite there too?

It is a matter of statistical averages.

Ford perfected it.

What is the odds of a person dying from A, B, or C?

What are the odds they will sue?

What is the likely amount rewarded?

How much will it cost to fix it?

If the cost of fixing exceeds the expected lawsuits they do not act on it.

Bruce

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Originally Posted by nixer

nor does it make it right for walmart to make ppl work through their breaks

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My sister-in-law works at Wal-mart. I called her. She said company policy says they get 15 minutes break in the morning, 30 minutes lunch, 15 minutes in the afternoon and they're not "made" to work then. So, not sure... maybe that's just at that particular Wal-mart and management is the culprit, not Wal-mart itself?
In any case, I believe that a private business can do whatever they want as long as there is no law against it. You don't like it, go work somewhere else. Eventually, when they can't find anybody to work for them, they'll make improvements. The power of a free society. :)

Personally, I don't shop at Wal-mart unless it's the middle of the night (only place open 24 hours besides Walgreens). Yeah, they're cheap, but quality is low and yes - their stores are hazardous. The one by me, they always have some huge pallet of something blocking the aisle I wanted to go to.

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Originally Posted by Bruce Whitehead

It is a matter of statistical averages.

Ford perfected it.

What is the odds of a person dying from A, B, or C?

What are the odds they will sue?

What is the likely amount rewarded?

How much will it cost to fix it?

If the cost of fixing exceeds the expected lawsuits they do not act on it.

Bruce

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Sounds like a smart company. I mean, if your company's mission is to provide the lowest price guaranteed. There's a reason they can go dirt cheap on all their stuff. They don't worry about every single person getting bit by a rattlesnake.

That's a by-product of a sue-happy society. Lawsuits become expensive so that for a business to stay on the black, they have to work with statistical averages.

the thing is being in florida they should realize that there are more snake encounters and such. ppl are quick to sue when theres "free" money involved alot of times they dont realize the repurcissions of their actions they just know they get to buy stuff. they should have paid his hospital bill and given him some gift cards. he would have been just as happy. and a independent consultant to look for snakes in the stores would cost less than a lawsuit.....

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Originally Posted by anatess

My sister-in-law works at Wal-mart. I called her. She said company policy says they get 15 minutes break in the morning, 30 minutes lunch, 15 minutes in the afternoon and they're not "made" to work then. So, not sure... maybe that's just at that particular Wal-mart and management is the culprit, not Wal-mart itself?
In any case, I believe that a private business can do whatever they want as long as there is no law against it. You don't like it, go work somewhere else. Eventually, when they can't find anybody to work for them, they'll make improvements. The power of a free society. :)

Personally, I don't shop at Wal-mart unless it's the middle of the night (only place open 24 hours besides Walgreens). Yeah, they're cheap, but quality is low and yes - their stores are hazardous. The one by me, they always have some huge pallet of something blocking the aisle I wanted to go to.

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I work at walmart. They do sometimes make you worth through your lunch, also ask you to stay late then the next day tell you to go home early so you don't have overtime. Make you pick up other peoples slack, try and tell you, you can't call out when you are sick, and so on. Wal-mart is a horrible place to work and deserve everything they get. If it wasn't the only option where I live I would not work there.

I'll give my opinion on 3 things:

1. Why is it walmart's fault for a rattlesnake? They did not plant it, it's not a regular thing at their store. Would walmart be responsible if an armed gunman walked into their store and starting shooting people? It's out of their control really.


2. I worked at walmart for over 10 years. Working at walmart allowed me to go to college, get a degree, buy a car, buy a house, buy lots of snakes, etc. It was a great job. I do not miss it, as walmart was not meant to be my life. But i had a pretty good experience there.

Walmart has over 1.5 million workers in the united states. Bad people do get promoted and they make bad decisions. This is no different than any other company, and if you look at the statistics, Walmart does a pretty good job.

3. No one is forced to work ANYWHERE. if you don't like your job, or how you are treated you can leave at any time.

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Originally Posted by matt71915

i agree that he should have just sued for medical and suffering.
but then again its not like walmart cant afford it
I got an email from a friend a couple weeks ago and it was about walmart. One of the points in the email was that walmart makes about 20k per minute.

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Just because a company can afford a lawsuit doesn't make it right to sue unless you have a justified reason to. As far as WalMart making money, well that would be because the American public likes to shop there. If we didn't, they wouldn't be making any money at all.

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Originally Posted by nixer

nor does it make it right for walmart to make ppl work through their breaks

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Do you actually work for WalMart? My husband does. I just asked him if he's made to work through his breaks. His answer was this "no, in fact if you do work through your breaks or don't take your lunch break after a certain number of hours you get "coached". This is being spoken to and your immediate supervisor as well since the company does not need issues with employees being made to miss their scheduled breaks.

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Originally Posted by AMC

I work at walmart. They do sometimes make you worth through your lunch, also ask you to stay late then the next day tell you to go home early so you don't have overtime. Make you pick up other peoples slack, try and tell you, you can't call out when you are sick, and so on. Wal-mart is a horrible place to work and deserve everything they get. If it wasn't the only option where I live I would not work there.

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If your WalMart is that bad you need to speak to someone in Corporate about that because it's not company policy. Like any big corporation there will be problems but I've never seen my husband in trouble for taking any time off. He has hours for sick time, for personal time that he can use for anything he wants, paid holidays, health benefits and a pretty decent wage. Sure if you call off every Friday then your employer is not going to be happy - what employer would!

Yes any company may need you to stay late. Yes most companies do not want to pay overtime. Yes you sometimes have to pick up the slack for your fellow employees that are not doing their jobs. That's part of working for a living. Do you think if you worked in a restaurant you could take a break or go home on time if a party of 20 walked in the door? Sometimes being a good employee is about seeing things from your employer's point of view once in awhile.

How can WalMart be your only place to work if you don't like it so much? A retailer that large doesn't open a store where no one has work and therefore no money to shop with. That's makes no sense.

I need some extra cash. Anyone have a rattlesnake i can borrow and take to wallmart? Ill just hide it in my pants and let it bite me in the checkout lane. Then Cha Ching!

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Just because a company can afford a lawsuit doesn't make it right to sue unless you have a justified reason to. As far as WalMart making money, well that would be because the American public likes to shop there. If we didn't, they wouldn't be making any money at all.



Do you actually work for WalMart? My husband does. I just asked him if he's made to work through his breaks. His answer was this "no, in fact if you do work through your breaks or don't take your lunch break after a certain number of hours you get "coached". This is being spoken to and your immediate supervisor as well since the company does not need issues with employees being made to miss their scheduled breaks.



If your WalMart is that bad you need to speak to someone in Corporate about that because it's not company policy. Like any big corporation there will be problems but I've never seen my husband in trouble for taking any time off. He has hours for sick time, for personal time that he can use for anything he wants, paid holidays, health benefits and a pretty decent wage. Sure if you call off every Friday then your employer is not going to be happy - what employer would!

Yes any company may need you to stay late. Yes most companies do not want to pay overtime. Yes you sometimes have to pick up the slack for your fellow employees that are not doing their jobs. That's part of working for a living. Do you think if you worked in a restaurant you could take a break or go home on time if a party of 20 walked in the door? Sometimes being a good employee is about seeing things from your employer's point of view once in awhile.

How can WalMart be your only place to work if you don't like it so much? A retailer that large doesn't open a store where no one has work and therefore no money to shop with. That's makes no sense.

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Who said I called out every friday? I'm a model employee and do everything that is asked/expected of me and much more, and I still get treated like dirt. Never have I ever worked at such a job were I was mistreated so badly, not to mention cussed at by the store manager on several occasions. I did talk to higher ups about the situation in my store and was simply laughed at.

Maybe you haven't seen the news lately but the economy is in the tanker and my town was hit hard, most places are laying people off/cutting hours let alone hiring more people, open your eyes.

Edit: And who said I was taking un-scheduled breaks when we were crowded? Again you are assuming things, I was simply told not to take my scheduled breaks, which goes against store policy. I have worked in 3 different wal-marts in 2 different states, and this isn't just a one store problem, this is a company wide problem.

You obviously read my comments as being personal to you which, quite honestly, I can't be responsible for. I'm sorry you're so unhappy in your employment. However, as you said, the economy is in the tank right now, so perhaps instead of focusing on the parts of your job you don't like, you might think about the guy who can't feed his family and would pretty much give anything just to have your job.

If you are being cussed at by your supervisor, have gone up the chain within the store without success, report it to Corporate. That is not a company issue, that's a specific issue with an employee in a store abusing his power over you. That happens at any number of employers unfortunately and it needs dealt with so you can do your job effectively. I've been there, sometimes you have to take it to retain a job to feed your kids and sometimes you have to speak up and take a stance. Don't assume that I don't know what it's like to struggle and deal with crap. I just don't generally spend my time blaming an entire corporation for my specific job issues.

I guess i do understand the law suit. If they can prove that the company knew about an issue and decided to neglect it. It is the same as if someone doesn't fix a step. What non of us know is weather the company regularly has checks. Everyone here knows there is no way to prevent a snake from coming in to a rodent infested area. If they did nothing to try and prevent the rodents from being in the garden section that would make them neglagent. But as far as a early warning system. The snake probably did rattle A. I would assume if they had already had 2 attacks at that store they may have posted signs about the issue B. I am assuming aswell as everyone else that things are proper but until everything comes out. I do know we won't ever know that because walmart will settle. My stepmother fell at meijer. she had a lawyer at the hospital before she had her cast on from the store. They wanted to make sure she had all of her bills paid. They never missed a beat. She even was given i think a couple thousand for pain and suffering and never contacted a lawyer just accepted what they gave her.

also walmart has been sued already for making ppl work through breaks its no big secret.

if they make you do it i would urge you to call your states board of labor about the issue.

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Originally Posted by dsirkle

If a wild alligator attacked your child would you blame the property owner?

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People would sue the property owner if the alligator was on their property at the time of the attack.

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Originally Posted by SPJ

People would sue the property owner if the alligator was on their property at the time of the attack.

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Unless the alligator was a pet... then that's messed up.

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

You obviously read my comments as being personal to you which, quite honestly, I can't be responsible for. I'm sorry you're so unhappy in your employment. However, as you said, the economy is in the tank right now, so perhaps instead of focusing on the parts of your job you don't like, you might think about the guy who can't feed his family and would pretty much give anything just to have your job.

If you are being cussed at by your supervisor, have gone up the chain within the store without success, report it to Corporate. That is not a company issue, that's a specific issue with an employee in a store abusing his power over you. That happens at any number of employers unfortunately and it needs dealt with so you can do your job effectively. I've been there, sometimes you have to take it to retain a job to feed your kids and sometimes you have to speak up and take a stance. Don't assume that I don't know what it's like to struggle and deal with crap. I just don't generally spend my time blaming an entire corporation for my specific job issues.

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I guess it's the odd way you word your posts? What does the guy who can't feed his family have to do with anything? So because somebody else could really use my job I should be happy with the way I'm treated? Like stated before wal-mart is the only employer I have ever worked at that has treated me like this, which would lead me to believe that since I have worked at 3 different wal-marts in 2 different states that it is like that everywhere.

at the same time if someone robbed your house and tripped and broke his leg on that nice lion statue in the front lawn you can be sued and will have to pay him

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Originally Posted by nixer

also walmart has been sued already for making ppl work through breaks its no big secret.

if they make you do it i would urge you to call your states board of labor about the issue.

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I was going to say that wasnt it a big thing on the news a few years back or something. Cost hem a lot of money too i think.

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Originally Posted by sg1trogdor

I was going to say that wasnt it a big thing on the news a few years back or something. Cost hem a lot of money too i think.

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yes and even worse for the ppl that named in the suit didnt get more than a few hundred each and the only ones paid was the ones that didnt work at walmart anymore. also note that the practice is illegal in every state in this country! the corporation has already been proven to allow this practice. the proper steps in this situation is to file a complaint against them with the labor board

Honestly, I would only sue if I was bit by a rattlesnake that was in some sort of exhibition, pet store,etc. were care was not taken to ensure that it was locked up safely. And then I would probably just sue for medical damages. I believe lawsuits are a very important part of a system of checks and balances, but I also think that some people abuse the availabilty of lawsuits.

I am lucky that I work in a law firm that does not practice in the areas that are breeding grounds for frivolous lawsuits (medical malpractice, personal injury, etc.).