Wal-Mart Sued over Black Friday Death

Jdimytai Damour, 34, was a big man - standing 6ft 5ins tall and weighing 270lbs - he could have been a linebacker in the NFL; but he was no match for the crush of the crowd seeking bargains at the Wal-Mart store at the Green Acres Mall in Long Island on Black Friday. It was probably his size that landed him the job of crowd control at the entrance of the store that fatal Friday morning.

He died of asphyxiation after the crowd of bargain-hunters, estimated to be around 2,000 strong, broke down the doors and overwhelmed the staff just shortly after 5am on Friday morning.

"Those hundreds of people who did make their way into the store, literally had to step over or around him or unfortunately on him to get into the Wal-Mart store," Nassau County Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey said this week.

The family of Jdimytai Damour has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit claiming store ads offering deep discounts "created an atmosphere of competition and anxiety" that led to "crowd craze." The lawsuit also claims that Wal-Mart failed to provide adequate security and the company "engaged in specific marketing and advertising techniques to specifically attract a large crowd and create an environment of frenzy and mayhem and was otherwise careless, reckless and negligent."

The Green Acres Mall, owned by Vornado Realty Trust, a realty company, that manages the property and a security company, Securitas, hired to patrol the property were all named as defendants.

The lawsuit against Wal-Mart and the other companies was filed in state Supreme Court in the Bronx, the home of one of the victim's sisters, Elsie Damour Phillipe, the court-appointed administrator of his estate. It does not seek specific damages.

In a statement issued by Wal-Mart, the company appears willing to bear some responsibility for the death of Damour, saying it would also cooperate with local law enforcement officials to develop stronger safety measures for the future.

"We consider Mr. Damour part of the Wal-Mart family, and are saddened by his death," the statement said. "We have been in communication with members of his family to do what we can to help them through this difficult time. Our associates know that when incidents like this occur, we take care of our own."

Police are reviewing store video to identify possible suspects in Damour's death, but Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey conceded that criminal charges are unlikely. He said it was apparent to him that the Wal-Mart store lacked adequate security to handle the crowds. He said police representatives met with retailers throughout the county two weeks before Thanksgiving and made it clear that security and crowd control for the sales were the merchants' responsibilities.

The family's lawyer, Jordan Hecht, said Damour's family also plans to file lawsuits against Nassau County and its police department.

Even though Damour's death was the direct result of lack of crowd control, some of the workers said they were still shaken by Mr. Damour’s death and added that they had mixed feelings about whether the store should have hired more security.

“How could you know something like that would happen?” said one worker, who added that the store was even busier this year than on Black Friday last year. “No one expected something like that.”

Wal-Mart workers interviewed on Saturday said they had been told by their managers not to speak to reporters or give their names. But they said that on Friday morning, when the store was closed for a few hours after Mr. Damour’s death, dozens of workers gathered near the front door to pray. They were led by a woman who worked as a greeter.

“It was crazy,” said a worker in the electronics department who was in the store during the stampede. “The deals weren’t even that good.”

Black Friday Death at Wal-Mart

When Jdimytai Damour, 34, went to work at Wal-Mart on Black Friday nobody knew it would be his last day alive. He was killed while trying to open the doors for an impatient crowd - estimated at 2,000 - rushing to enter the store. In what can only be described as a stampede, shoppers "pushed the glass sliding doors to the ground, bending their aluminum frames like an accordion". Damour was shoved to the ground and trampled to death by the horde of frenzied shoppers. Even co-workers trying to help the fallen Damour were stepped upon. Minutes later, police trying to give Damour first aid were jostled by customers still running into the store, located at Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, Long Island, NY.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wVqclrD38w]

Wal-Mart was roundly criticized for not having provided enough security at the store. A workers union is calling for an investigation "by all levels of government" to ensure justice for Damour's family and make sure that such an incident never happens at Wal-Mart again.

"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.

The UFCW has long been a harsh critic of Wal-Mart's, arguing that the world's largest retailer offers low wages and poor health care for its workers and pushes competitors and suppliers to do the same or go out of business. The group has had only marginal success in organizing Wal-Mart workers in the United States and Canada, citing aggressive anti-union efforts by Wal-Mart.

In a statement Wal-Mart said the store had added internal security, brought in outside security, erected barricades and worked with Nassau County police in anticipation of heavy crowds.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the deceased," Wal-Mart Senior Vice President Hank Mullany said in the statement. "We are continuing to work closely with local law enforcement, and we are reaching out to those involved."

Even if the store did not provide proper security, the crowd of seemingly uncaring shoppers who participated in the rampage also needs to be held responsible. Police are reviewing the security video to see if they can identify any of those who were involved.

In the meantime Damour's family prepares to bury him. His mother who lives in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, was en route to help with the funeral arrangements and his father, Ogera Charles, who is featured in the report below, is said to be in total shock:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_7lMJCqhiI]

Friends and family describe Jdimytai Damour as a helpful man who loved poetry and was a fan of the late novelist Donald Goines. A Freeport High School graduate, Damour attended Nassau Community College for a year. He was a big man but had no apparent health problems. He did construction work for a time and installed fences. His family roots are in Haiti, and he had a brother and four sisters.