Black Friday Stampede Kills Worker At Wal-Mart

Update: The New York Daily News is now saying that reports of a woman having a miscarriage during a Wal-Mart Black Friday stampede are unfounded.

A 28-year-old pregnant woman was knocked to the floor during the mad rush. She was hospitalized for observation, police said. Early witness accounts that the woman suffered a miscarriage were unfounded, police said.

From The New York Daily News:

A worker died after being trampled and a woman miscarried when hundreds of shoppers smashed through the doors of a Long Island Wal-Mart Friday morning, witnesses said.

The unidentified worker, employed as an overnight stock clerk, tried to hold back the unruly crowds just after the Valley Stream store opened at 5 a.m.

Additional reports from NY Newsday say the "34-year-old Wal-Mart worker died Friday morning after he was knocked to the ground after 'a throng of shoppers physically broke down the doors,' pushing their way into the store at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, Nassau police said."

Comments

[DuPageDem]

The products on Maul-Mart's shelves already are coated with blood from China's prison factories and child sweatshops. So one more indentured servant trampled to death is just another day on the job. This incident tells you everything you need to know about how Maul-Mart treats its workers -- and about those who are willing to shop there anyway.

[dartagnan]

I will never, ever, EVER set foot inside a Walmart. If I have to pay more elsewhere, I do. And if I can't find something I need elsewhere I do without it.

[readmewell22]

Almost every item in the store is made in China, and the quality has been absent for years now! This entire story is sad and sick!

[panurse]

has Walmart gone on the record about this death? I haven't heard anything yet in the media.....sad........boycott them, people

[littlemoon]

Another prime example of greed at it's worst...

Now we have retailers pandering to one of the lowest human emotions... in the most precarious of times, in the midst of a boiling pot of financial upheaval that was inspired by and created by GREED...

it's really sickening to me.... we are losing our asses because of greed, and YET... we are reading retailers ads that fan the flames of greed that encourage us to camp out in front of stores and trample each other for TELEVISIONS????

Each and every store that participated in the rush for exclusive and minimal quantities of marked down items are equally responsible for fanning the flames of greed and the results that ensued thereafter...

Wally world should be held responsible for creating the feeding frenzy and for the tragic result that ensued...in Long Island... and we should all wag fingers at those who were SO greedy as to trample another human being in order to purchase un-necessary items in limited quantities in a mob style consciousness...

it is reprehensible... and reupgnant

always has been, it's just so much more vile given the current economic picture...

Given our present circumstances, I had hoped that Americans would not or could not act in such miserably irresponsible ways...

At the end of the day, it seems that greed can and will be a human emotion that will trample our neighbors day in and day out... Wall Street or Wally World...

when will we ever learn???

[JuniorIsaac]

Can someone PLEASE tell me what was so important that these people waiting in line for hours for? I have been looking but I havent found a single thing. I checked out all the black Friday sites and fliers and didnt see anything remotely close to a great deal let alone trample someone to death over. I know several people have asked this same question.

[nomobull]

nothing worth another human beings life

[45245]

well good for you

[Sparky123]

Have you ever considered the mental capacity of the average Wal Mart shopper?

[nivek]

Greed Stampede right through the door, get yours now before no more, don't bother with one on the floor, just step right up to deals galore. Thank you Wal-mart

[dandypuddin]

From CNN:

Jdimytai Damour, 34, was crushed as he and other employees attempted to unlock the doors of a Long Island, New York, store at 5 a.m. Friday, police said.

"This incident was avoidable," said Bruce Both, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1500, the state of New York's largest grocery worker's union. "Where were the safety barriers? Where was security? How did store management not see dangerous numbers of customers barreling down on the store in such an unsafe manner?

"This is not just tragic; it rises to a level of blatant irresponsibility by Wal-Mart," he said

It needs to be noted that this young man wasn't even a Wal-Mart employee, he was a temp. Why didn't the store manager open the doors? Why did he make a temp do it?

[45245]

who cares what a union unrelated to walmart has to say.........walmart is not unionized

[tjinc]

That's just the point. This wouldn't happen in a unionized store with enforceable safety regulations.

You can now see an example of how workers are treated in non-union businesses. Bruce Both was right, and his post was absolutely appropriate. This poor temp was put in a potentially dangerous position with no regard for his safety.

There should have been security guards on crowd control, and if anyone was to be on the front line it should be the store manager.

Another reason why I will go out of my way to never shop at Wal-Mart.

[dartagnan]

"This is not just tragic; it rises to a level of blatant irresponsibility by Wal-Mart."

Absolutely, and I'd bet my last nickel a jury would think so too.

I hope that poor guy has relatives and they sue the Walton family's collective ass off. Five of the 10 richest people in America are Sam Walton's widow and his four children. They've become billionaires through piratical business practices and exploiting tens of thousands of workers like this unfortunate man.

[gwhizz]

The "temp" didn't open the doors. The mob SMASHED the doors down. No security or barriers would have stopped those animals.

[coco51]

The Walmart where this occurred had only 5! 5! flat screen TVs! Those people who stood on line for hours were not made aware of that. Retailers have gotten worst and worst with these hyped sales which are nothing more than bait and switch schemes. "oh, you didn't find the TV you almost got killed for, ooops, didn't you know we had only 5? no?! well how about a box of 24 cans of tuna?"

I do not spend my hard earned money in a Walmart, their business practices are borderline criminal. All weekend long their commercials have been running just about 6 per hour, how macabre and self-serving. Couldn't they have contacted someone to request less ads in respect to their employee and customer's family?

I hope these fatalities (a pregnant woman also miscarried) will cause states to pass legislation that will put and end to retailers having these types of sales. Doorbusters have to go.

[45245]

how would you control what sales a retailer puts on........good luck with that

[bluekatz]

As a matter of fact if consumers stop rushing to buy the crap at this time of the year all year would be a sale. Its the consumer they gauge and how much to set their prices. If a person is willing to pay $1200 for a television then they keep it at that price but if the consumer leave it on the shelves they will drop the prices. Its a matter of common sense and what one is willing to pay that the retailer will price his goods. The retailer knows he will make a profit because his bottomline is marked up to do so.

[AlsoSarah]

I can't ever remember going to one of these sales. I have no problem with these sales if they are handled properly. The news shows shoppers waiting in line with tents etc. Maybe they enjoy this kind of excitement (or lack thereof). I believe most responsible stores have some type of crowd management like taking numbers or letting only certain numbers in at a time. I think WalMart was criminally negligent in this particular situation and should be prosecuted, fined, and sued to the max.

[dartagnan]

I've never gone to one of those crazy "Black Friday" sales either. I wouldn't get up at 4 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving if they were selling Lamborghinis for $39.99.

Well, MAYBE ...

[SteveDenver]

Not reported: Shoppers were angry when the Wal-Mart closed and waited around in the parking lot for it to reopen. Some of them complained to TV reporters that they had been their for hours.

MAUL-MART: I bet this story fades in a couple of days, unless Nancy Grace keeps it alive with her shrieking.

[dandypuddin]

Maul-Mart, perfect new name for them.

[helenwheels]

I saw "Mall Wart" up here somewhere too... perfect.

[45245]

just another "who" concert.......put yourself in that circumstance, you better be prepared

[nomobull]

it was on face the nation. now the nation should face itself by the msm running the story in a loop for days.

[Sunny2]

So that justifies what happened? Stop blaming WalMart. It's the savage people that are to be blamed. I would venture a ;guess that 99.9 percent of them should be paying their bills instead of buying flatscreen TVs.

[panurse]

lol hit the nail on the head

[sunzen]

Is this related to Black ICE or the Black Market in some way? We are so ridiculous.

[J242]

No, it's when retailers turn their fiscal reports from red (Being at a loss) to black (operating at a profit)...

[LatteLibertine]

Out of control consumerism injected into very selfish people with no empathy/conscience is the root of this nonsense. People that are taught; empathy, conscience and some degree of impulse control from an early age do not behave in that manner. That is unless they have something fundamentally wrong with them. The growing number of sociopaths in this country, of all stripes and types, is alarming.

[SonyaInTx]

I saw pictures of the crowd at the Wal Mart in Valley Stream on the Newsday.com website.

I'm black, but I would not have gone anywhere near this Wal Mart with the thugs and thug-ettes standing outside waiting to bum rush the doors.

Wal Mart must have done one heck of a job marketing for this hornets nest of hoods. There was a handmade sign taped up on the outside of the Wal Marft that read, "The blitz starts here!"

Present that sign at the trial for the trampled employee when they sue the pants off Wal Mart.

[onthegomom3]

I avoid watching too much media. I hate fighting crowds during shopping seasons. I have tried shopping on "Black Friday" once,..ten years ago. I discovered that the bargains advertised were not bargains at all. If you really wanted to save money then you would slowly shop all year round. The best deals hit when things fall out of season. Electronic technologies change so quickly which result in dramatic price drops.
This event has nothing to do with black or white, rich or poor...it is about people and their desires to be selfish and greedy. I am ashamed of anyone who particpates in this so called bargain hunting. I am sure that there are many more violent occurrences that did not make national headlines. Sam Walton, who founded Walmart, would never conduct business this way.

[SonyaInTx]

I beg to differ on this one. The cheap merchandise and the location of this Maul-Mart (That's what I call them now), on the border of housing projects was a recipe for disaster.

You wouldn't see this happen at Saks Fifth Avenue.

[Toonadude]

Yeah ---- those Palin supporters are very pro-life, but I suggest you don't stand between them and a Black Friday discount on worthless junk or you might see their principles tested in a way you hadn't anticipated.

[Mystic01]

So a worker is killed in a stampede by frenzied shoppers buying presents to celebrate the birth of someone who taught non-materialism and that we should give away all our possessions. Just how distorted have our priorities become?

[bh316]

Amen.

[Hamatreya]

Bush would cut the sandwiches in half three times, call it a miracle, and throw them out after the photo op.

[harriettubman]

These were selfish commercial shoppers, not ones who were thinking about the birth of Jesus.

I read that this particular Walmart serves several thousand people because Walmart isn't allowed in NYC due to the union. That's like selling 500 sandwiches to 4,000 hungry people.

[bluekatz]

They have no priorites for it they did that would be the last thing they would be rushing out to buy. Next month they will returning the broken items or stea ling from someone.

[TRichards]

What in the hell at Wal-mart could generate such mindless frenzy?!

[dandypuddin]

The Wal Mart Marketing Department.

[harriettubman]

i learned years ago about the Walmart tactics. They advertise something good for a very low price. When you arrive they sell out in 5 mins because they only had 20 of that item in the store for thousands of people. People should catch on to this ploy and avoid Walmart on Black Friday. I'm sure other stores do it too but not to the extent Walmart does.

Nintendo does it too everytime a new game system comes out. They'll send 300 Nintendos to a store while 2,000 shoppers want one. They lie every time saying "demand is more than supply". How many years can they keep saying that?

Catch on people.

[J242]

Ummm, Nintendo doesn't really do that, it's only been with the Wii and as a former NOA employee who still has access to their company store in Redmond, they really don't have enough to meet demand. They keep the cost of it low because they didn't pay for the additional facilities needed to met the unexpected demand.

Have you EVER heard someone have trouble finding a DS Lite? Nope. An original DS? Nope. A GBA? Nope. A Gamecube when it first came out? AN N64 when it first came out? A SNES or a NES when they first came out? Nope, notta and nuh-uh... Only the Wii hasn't met the demand with enough supply so your point targeting them is moot and ignorantly assumptive. Do not EVER lump them in with Maul-Mart's ilk as that's almost morally reprehensible.

[gwhizz]

It's not just walmart. Thumb through your T'Day inserts. MOST of the ads for deeply discounted items say "XX per store". THAT is why morons line up at 3am, break doors down and trample people. Because they're going to get one of those "XX" items and won't let anything like a locked door or human body stand in their way.

[Toonadude]

Wal-mart is not generating it --- they are mining it.

[Hamatreya]

They do both.

[TruckerJohn]

Walmart have a" lossleader" some piece of crap made in a third world sweatshop by a ten year old kid. They sell a hundred of these at a loss and make a profit on the next hundred thousand units they sell at full price. They know once you've set foot in a store you're going to buy something, they don't care what it is.
The very same tactics they've been using for years to wipe out competition, there is good news though, Walmart tried to expand to Germany a while ago and they mis-judged big time, the Germans ignored them, so they gave up after a couple of years and closed down.
Do Walmart care about the consequences of customer stampede? I don't think so!

[45245]

third world needs jobs too

[SwingingFromCenter]

Yet another reason I hate Wal-Mart. Look at their clientele.

They don't care that someone is seriously injured or worse, they just want their cheap trinkets, no matter what. These people actually had the nerve to COMPLAIN when the store was shut down because of this, just because even though they had nixed some guy's life, they didn't get to buy their cheap garbage.

[Susej]

I'm on vacation overseas.
So what did Wal-mart advertise for cheat to attract such crowds? $99 LCD TV's? $49 notebooks? $.99 dignity?

[protagonia]

Wal-Mart is where the desperate are forced to go because of their pricing, regardless of how unscrupulously it has filled it's shelves.

A terrible consequence for what we know all too well.

[45245]

oh well

[bluekatz]

Then the desperate should not be buying high priced items. They should be saving their money for when they really need it like the roof over their heads, food, utilities etc but then that would mean they are truly taking care of themselves. Those same items will be on sale the following week.

[Mo in VA]

The call their loss leaders 'Doorbusters'. And feign surprise when they work.

[dartagnan]

Actually there's quite a bit of research to show that, on a week-in, week-out basis, Walmart's prices are not really significantly lower than their competitors. They have created the reputation of being the cheapest through saturation advertising and through the astute use of "loss leaders" -- items they sell below cost to get people in the doors and bolster their reputation as the cheapest store.