My dad tripped on something in a parking lot in a local store on June 30th and the store refused to write an accident report. We noticed the next day that they took out what he tripped on. He passed 3 days later from his health problems. I am stuck on whether I should pursue something or not?
The store has already corrected the fault that caused your father's fall. That's a good thing, isn't it? It means that no one else will have the same accident.
You could write to the owner of the store (go to the top, don't talk to underlings) and make a formal complaint. This will give the company an opportunity to give your family a proper apology for what happened and explain how they would like to try to put things right.
You could, if you can put a figure on it, ask them for compensation. They should have public liability insurance; if you make a formal complaint which you would be able to substantiate, the insurer would rather pay up than contest the matter in court, by and large.
Or, stepping up a gear, you could pursue a claim for damages against whichever organisation is responsible for the proper maintenance of the parking lot (it isn't necessarily the store, they may use a contractor). You will need to show proof that they fell short in their duty of care towards your father, a customer and a member of the public; and that their negligence caused him personal injury for which his estate is owed reparations.
Did you take photographs? Do you have a medical report detailing injuries he sustained in the fall?
The best thing to do is to work out in your own mind what you think the store ought to do to make up for the hurt and trouble they caused your father and your family; and then take it from there.
Do you, when it comes down to it, feel that they were partly responsible for his dying when he did?
He obviously did not lose any time at work..did you?
If you suffered no monetary loss, then you have no case.
It is galling to have a store not even apologize for this. But, without the accident report, you are not likely to even get that much.
Sometimes it is just better to turn the page and move on
1. Was your father injured? Did he go to a hospital? Was he treated for injuries from the fall?
2. How old was he, and what medical problems did he have?
3. What were the causes of death listed on the Death Certificate?
In order to sue, or rather first find an attorney to handle a case, your father would have had to sustain injuries arising from the fall. And it would have to be documented in medical records.
Lost wages is not the sole justification for suing; if he was injured and lost wages, that would be addressed in the complaint. And often the two go hand in hand.
The issue is whether the condition of the pavement caused the fall, and whether the injuries sustained can be attributed directly to the fall.
I am sorry for your loss; it must especially difficult if you feel that the fall contributed to or caused his death.
Both myself and my boss are senior citizens, and both of us had fallen in his building at different times. He on the stairs, and me in the parking lot. He wasn't paying attention being on his cellphone, and me not watching where I was walking. Both of us were injured.
I figure either my boss or I could have fallen at our homes and had the same injuries. Thus, unless a public place was totally negligent knowing that item was a trip hazard, then I would check with an accident attorney to see if there is a possibly of recourse. The fact that the trip item had been removed, tells me maybe this could have happened before.
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