Duty of Care. Harold Martin was shopping in the sporting goods department of a Wal Mart store. At that time, in the department there was only one employee when, according to the store's policy, there should have been two. In front of the sporting goods

Question

section, in the store's main aisle (which the employees referred to as "action alley") was a large display of stacked cases of shotgun shells. On top of the cases were individual boxes of shells. Shortly after the sporting-goods employee walked past the display, Martin did so, but Martin slipped on some loose shotgun shell pellets and fell to the floor. Immediately, he lost feeling and control of his legs. Sensation and control returned, but during the next week, he lost the use of his legs several times for periods of from ten to fifteen minutes. Eventually, sensation and control did not return to the front half of his left foot. Doctors diagnosed the condition as permanent. Martin filed a suit in a federal district court against Wal-Mart, seeking damages for his injury. Should Wal-Mart be considered to have had notice of the condition that led to Martin's injury? Why or why not?

Answer 1

Duty of care
The jury found in his favor, and the court denied Wal-Mart's motion for a directed verdict. Wal-Mart appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, which affirmed the judgment of the lower court. The appellate court stated, "The traditional rule * * * required a plaintiff in a slip and fall case to establish that the defendant store had either actual or constructive notice of the dangerous condition." The court, however, explained that this case involved the self-service store exception to the traditional slip-and-fall rule. Under this exception, a self-service store is considered to be on notice that certain dangers arising through customer involvement are likely to occur and has a duty to anticipate them. Part of this duty is to "warn customers or protect them from the danger." Here, Wal-Mart had constructive notice of the pellets on the floor in the main aisle. "Martin slipped on pellets next to a large display of shotgun shells immediately abutting the sporting goods department. The chance that merchandise will wind up on the floor (or merchandise will be spilled on the floor) in the department in which that merchandise is sold or displayed is exactly the type of foreseeable risk" that is part of the self-service store exception.