Overlawyered: Chronicling The High Cost Of Our Legal System

Deep pockets to blame after shopping cart dropped onto bystander

In 2011, at the East River Plaza mall in East Harlem, two youngsters tossed a shopping cart “from a 79-foot-high landing outside a Target store,” nearly killing Marion Hedges below. Hedges and her family “sued Target, the mall and its security company for negligence in 2011, saying the businesses ignored past incidents involving kids fooling around with carts.” A jury has now awarded the family $45.2 million. “The Hedgeses previously settled with Target for a confidential sum. The six-person jury found the teens 10 percent responsible for Hedges’ injuries while assigning 65 percent of the fault to the mall and 25 percent to Planned Security Services.” [Julia Marsh and Kalah Siegel, New York Post] In 2015 the New York Post reported on the further extralegal adventures of one of the only-a-little-bit-responsible teen attackers, who had been sentenced to 6 to 16 months in a group home as punishment.

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4 Comments

  • The “teens” were 12 and 13. I can only assume that the jury felt they were too young to be held responsible. (Of course, they’re adults by now, because our justice system apparently needs 7 years to decide one case.)

    The Hedgeses previously settled with Target for a confidential sum. The six-person jury found the teens 10 percent responsible for Hedges’ injuries while assigning 65 percent of the fault to the mall and 25 percent to Planned Security Services

    So they settled with one party for an undisclosed amount, and the remaining parties split the liability, with none assigned to the party that settled? Something seems strange about that. If Target was partially responsible, that percentage they are responsible should be deducted from what the other parties have to pay – otherwise it’s just double dipping. Or is that accounted for somehow?

  • My take: 95% of responsibility on the kids and their parents, because they are dumb. 5% on the property owner for making the act too easy.
    But remember, there are heavy objects at varying elevations everywhere.

    • By thxff

  • Bridges, rocks, bricks, cars… What’s next, the store being blamed because a driver ran someone down in the parking lot? Or maybe I’m late to the party? Well, if the bank didn’t have all that money, I wouldn’t have robbed it. Corollary to Jesse James “because that’s where the money is” quote or misquote… 😀

    • By cecil

    • I’m waiting for someone to crash into a building and then sue the building owner for not yielding the right of way. 🙂

      • By MattS