HomeGoods Store Accident Injury Attorney

HomeGoods is an extremely popular chain of home furnishing stores located throughout the U.S. Currently, HomeGoods is owned by T.J. Maxx, along with Marshalls, Sierra Trading Post, and HomeSense. If you’ve ever been inside a HomeGoods, you’ve probably noticed that these stores are very cramped and full of merchandise that can fall and injure people. But there are many other injuries that can happen at home furnishing stores. That’s why retailers must take precautions to ensure the safety of their customers at all times. When stores are negligent in their duty of care, they may be held responsible if a customer is injured on their premises.

If you’ve had an accident at a HomeGoods location, it’s essential to learn about your rights and legal options as an injury victim. You may be able to sue HomeGoods for your accident, which can help you recover losses, like medical bills and lost wages. However, you must take the proper steps after your accident to ensure that HomeGoods can be held responsible for your injuries. We will cover various topics pertaining to a lawsuit against HomeGoods, including:

• What do I do if I’ve been injured at a HomeGoods store?
• How do I file an injury claim for my accident?
• What are these cases usually worth?
• How long will it take before I get paid by HomeGoods?

If you have any questions during the reading of this article, please give us a call at our office. Our knowledgeable attorneys will be happy to answer your questions and educate you on your available legal options.
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What kind of Accidents Can Happen at a HomeGoods Store?

Packed and crowded stores like HomeGoods are prone to accidents when they’re not constantly monitored and maintained. Below are the most common accidents that can happen to shoppers at a HomeGoods store.

• Slip and fall

The majority of accidents at HomeGoods are slip and falls. Customers can easily slip on spilled products, slippery tiles, ice in the parking lot, and many other hazards that are present in home furnishing stores. Slip and falls often result in serious injuries, including broken bones, hip fracture, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord damage, knee injury, and dislocated joints.

• Trip and fall

The shelves at many HomeGoods stores are tightly packed with items, which can easily fall on the floor. Shoppers can also trip over hazards, like debris or loose wiring in the aisles, uneven flooring, and broken pavement on the sidewalks. Even poor lighting can cause trip and falls if the victim fails to notice something in front of them.

• Falling objects

Objects can fall from ceilings and walls when they’re not properly secured. Customers can also be hit with objects that fall from shelves or from displays, like stacked chairs or boxes. The blunt force trauma from being hit with a falling object can have severe consequences, such as traumatic brain injury, spinal cord damage, and even death.

• Parking lot accidents

While these accidents happen outside the store, HomeGoods is responsible for maintaining their parking lots and resolving hazards that can cause accidents. Parking lot accidents include car crashes, slip and falls, being hit with shopping carts, and tripping over debris or exposed rebar.

• Assault and battery

Stores must take sufficient security measure to prevent physical attacks on their premises. A security guard isn’t required, though some stores have them. However, bright lighting, surveillance cameras, and secure locks on doors can help prevent incidents of assault and battery. Stores may also be responsible if one of their employees attacks a customer or their premises..

• Sexual assault

Reasonable security measures must be taken by store management to protect visitors from sexual assault. An incident of sexual assault can cause physical injuries, including damage to the reproductive organs and exposure to STDs. Victims also suffer from emotional trauma, like depression, anxiety, and PTSD.

Any one of these accidents can cause long-term damage to your physical and mental health, not to mention your finances. Taking immediate action against the store is the best way to recover your losses, but victims are often unaware of what to do after their accident.

What do I do if I had an Accident at HomeGoods?

The steps you take right after your accident are extremely important, as they will lay the foundation for a lawsuit against the store. Please take the following steps if you’ve been injured at a HomeGoods location:

1. Get medical attention.

If you’re in a lot of pain or have trouble moving, call an ambulance to avoid worsening your injuries. No matter what, make sure to get treatment for your injuries to ensure the best possible recovery. Additionally, establishing a record of your injuries right after the accident is crucial for a personal injury lawsuit.

2. File an accident report with the store.

To ensure that the report is filed properly, speak to someone in charge, like a manager, and ask for a copy of the accident report. A copy of the accident report will also be sent to the store’s insurance company. The person who files your accident report may ask you to sign something, but please do not sign anything without talking to a lawyer. It’s common for stores to trick victims into signing liability releases, which will prevent them from suing the store for damages.

3. Collect evidence.

Start collecting evidence right away, like photos of your injuries and the accident scene, witness statements, and medical reports. If you’re able to get witness statements, have the witnesses sign and date their statements so that it can be used in a lawsuit. Also, look around for surveillance cameras that may have recorded footage of your accident.

4. Find a lawyer with experience in store injury lawsuits.

Even if you have all the evidence in the world, one legal misstep can cause your claim to be denied. Make sure to find a qualified store accident lawyer right away, who will represent you in any dealings with HomeGoods and their insurance company.

It’s unfortunate how many claimants lose out on compensation, or the full value of their compensation just by saying the wrong thing or taking one wrong step. To protect yourself and your right to monetary damages, speak with one of our retail injury lawyers as soon as possible.

How do I know if I can sue the Store for my Injuries?

In order to sue a HomeGoods store for your injuries, you would have to show that the store was negligent in their duty to keep you safe while you were on their property. To determine the store’s negligence, ask yourself the following 4 questions:

• Was there a dangerous condition on the store property?
• Was the hazardous condition responsible for your accident?
• Did the store know, or should have known about the hazard?
• Could the store have done something to fix or resolve the hazard?

If your answers to all four questions are “yes,” you have the basis for a lawsuit against the retailer. The store’s liability, by the way, isn’t negated by someone else’s actions (third party liability) or your own actions. It’s possibly that liability may be split among these parties, but the store still has to bear some of the blame. For instance, let’s say a customer is injured because they were shoved by an employee. Even though the employee was the direct cause of the injury, the store is vicariously liable if the assault occurred while the employee was acting within the scope of their job duties.

Your accident, however, may be more complex and it’s not as easy to determine HomeGoods’ liability for your injuries. That’s why an attorney’s guidance is so important when it comes to retail liability claims. To protect your right to compensation as a HomeGoods accident victim, give us a call right away.

Compensation for your Injuries

What you can ask for in a HomeGoods injury lawsuit depends on your losses as a result of your accident. Generally, most lawsuits involving store negligence include the following damages:

• Medical costs
• Lost wages or loss of earning potential
• Pain and suffering
• Property damage
• Legal fees
• Punitive damages

Certain types of damages, like pain and suffering and punitive damages are challenging to win because they’re not based on your economic losses. Recovering these compensation types requires the knowledge of a skilled personal injury attorney.

You can also receive compensation if you lost a family member or loved one to an accident at a HomeGoods store. If you are eligible for a wrongful death compensation claim, you may be able to request the following:

• Funeral expenses
• Medical bills left behind by your loved one
• Loss of income and benefits
• Loss of consortium
• Legal fees

Please contact our attorneys for a full explanation of these damages. Monetary compensation is essential to your physical and mental recovery, whether you are the victim or the loved one of a victim. But you only have two years from the date of your accident or the date of your loved one’s death to file a lawsuit. Don’t lose out on the compensation you’re entitled to. Give us a call and schedule a free consultation with one our attorneys.

How do I file an Accident Claim if I was Injured at a HomeGoods Store?

To file an accident claim with HomeGoods, you will need to contact their insurance company to provide details of your accident and the types of damages you are seeking. While you don’t need a lawyer for this part, we recommend working with one to ensure that your rights are protected at all times. Your lawyer will also help you negotiate a fair settlement with the insurance company, or file a lawsuit if your claim is rejected. A lawsuit may also be necessary if the insurance company refuses to make you a fair offer.

Your lawsuit must be filed within 2 years of your accident date, so you must start the claims process right away. Ideally, you can reach an agreement with the insurance company and there’s no need to file a lawsuit. But the negotiation process can take 6 months or more, since everything must be in writing and the insurance company has a right to investigate your accident. So you want to make sure that there is plenty of time left to file a lawsuit within that 2 year period. We will go into more detail about the lawsuit process in the section titled “How Long does it take to Settle These Cases?” For now, let’s talk about a topic that’s surely on your mind – how much can you receive from a lawsuit against HomeGoods?

What is the Average Value of a HomeGoods Lawsuit?

The value of a HomeGoods lawsuit depends on the type of accident, the injuries resulting from the accident, and the victim’s losses as a result of those injuries. Essentially, there is no “average” value for a HomeGoods lawsuit, but here’s a recent verdict to give you an idea of what’s possible:

• A California jury awarded Fresno native K. Kaur $2 million after she was injured from falling at a HomeGoods parking lot. As a result of her accident, Kaur needed reconstructive surgery in her ankle and right hip, which worsened her CRPS (complex regional pain syndrome).

There are many other verdicts against T.J. Maxx stores for their failure to ensure the safety of their customers. Take a look at the following examples:

• $165,000 for a customer that fell on a display case at T.J. Maxx
• $300,000 awarded to a woman who fell at a Marshall’s department store.
• $58,000 awarded to a custodian who slipped on water at a Marshall’s store.

These accidents could have been prevented, but the stores failed in their duty to ensure the safety of their customers. When store employees and management breach their duty of care, the store must take responsibility for the harm that’s inflicted on their customers.

How Long does it take to Settle These Cases?

There is no universal timeline for how long it takes to settle a case against HomeGoods. But much of it depends on whether your case proceeds to a lawsuit. If you’re able to settle your claim directly with the insurance company, you may be able to resolve your case under 6 months. But once a lawsuit it filed, both sides will have to prepare for a trial. That process can take a year or more, depending on the complexity of your accident and the damages you are seeking. Prior to your trial date, the courts will order you and the other side to a settlement conference, known as mediation of alternative dispute resolution. This is your last chance to work out a fair settlement, and if that happens, your case is settled without the need for a trial.

Our lawyers are very proactive in requesting a mediation date once upon the filing of a lawsuit. But getting a date can take months, and more than one meeting may be required before a settlement is negotiated. Thus, by the time a case is settled via mediation, it may be 1 to 2 years from the date of your accident. And if you can’t settle your case in mediation, the last option is to go to trial.

The wait times are undoubtedly frustrating for clients, and ultimately, it’s up to each victim to decide how far they want to take their case. In the case involving Fresno plaintiff K. Kaur, it took four years from the date of her accident before she was awarded $2 million by a jury. In her situation, we would say the wait was worth it, as she had multiple injuries that worsened her CRPS. We also mentioned a woman who was awarded $300,000 for her accident at Marshalls. Initially, Marshalls offered $7,000 for her injuries, which was completely inadequate for her losses. This was clearly another case where a lawsuit was necessary.

Of course, your accident has its own set of factors and complexities, which is why you should speak with a lawyer as soon as possible. For more information on the legal process that may be needed for your accident, contact our office and speak to one of our attorneys.

The Retail Liability Lawyers of Normandie

For as many years as we’ve been representing victims, the length that retailers will go to in a lawsuit still amazes us. Blaming the victim, doubting the severity of their injuries, attacking their mental health – these are just some of the excuses our clients were given by the store they were injured in. We are outraged by these tactics and have fought tirelessly to ensure that victims are not cheated out of the funds they’re entitled to.

As part of our commitment to injury victims, we operate under a Zero fee guarantee. That means you are never charged upfront for anything we do on your case, starting from the initial consultation. Our fees are only recovered if you win your case, and at that point, it’s HomeGoods that will be paying us and not you. You can also take advantage of the Zero fee guarantee if you’re coming to us from another law firm. Have you filed a lawsuit against HomeGoods, but don’t like how your case is being handled? Then contact us right away and schedule a free second opinion. You can have your case reviewed by one of our attorneys, free of charge, and verity whether your lawyer is acting in your best interest. If there are red flags and you want to switch over to us, we’ll take care of the entire transfer process and defer all payments until you receive your settlement.

If you’re ready to take action and recover the damages you deserve, contact Normandie Law Firm and speak to a HomeGoods accident lawsuit attorney.