Posted on 08/14/2021 8:29:14 AM PDT by lightman
A Teaneck woman who was attacked and suffered a broken bone in her leg in Staples last summer after asking a fellow customer to put on a mask has filed a lawsuit against the business.
Margot Kagan, 55, says in court papers a lack of supervision and security left her “boxed in” and vulnerable to the woman who allegedly attacked her near the fax machines at the Hackensack store.
There was “no reasonable way to alight from a foreseeable event,” states the suit, filed last week in Superior Court of Bergen County.
“(The) foreseeable event was a fellow patron who berated and ultimately attacked (Kagan),” the suit states.
The incident occurred July 29 as the mother of two faxed paperwork from the store’s machines, Kagan told NJ Advance Media after the attack.
In an interview from her hospital bed last year, Kagan said she’d recently had a liver transplant and was worried about contracting the coronavirus.
“I said, ‘you’re endangering everyone by not wearing your mask’ and I put my head down and went back to faxing at the machine,” Kagan said days after the event.
Security video from a store camera shows the suspect walk around a plastic divider and confront Kagan.
“Next thing I know, she’s two feet away from me, screaming at me,” Kagan said. “I really didn’t understand what she was saying. I lifted my cane to keep her away from me.”
Video appears to show the suspect grabbing the frail woman and throwing her to the floor. “My knee broke while I was falling. I later learned it was my tibia,” Kagan said.
Police arrested Terri Thomas, 25, of Hackensack, and charged her with aggravated assault. The criminal case is pending in Superior Court, public records show. But Kagan has sued only the store, not Thomas.
The lawsuit alleges Staples was negligent in not providing security at the Hackensack store, which court papers describe as “a high crime area.” Staples did not immediately respond Friday morning to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
Oooo... I watched the video. She should be laughed out of court. She used that cane like a poker and got exactly what she deserved.
My body, my choice is the same as the other person’s body and their choice on mask wearing. People need to shut the heck up and mind their own business.
She should have ordered a printer with her freebie government checks so she could print in the safety of her own home.
Was she wearing gloves as she was hitting the print button? Did she bring Lysol to spray herself before getting into her car? Did she bring hand sanitizer to wash off her hands? Did she bring alcohol to wipe down her credit card and purse? When she got home, did she leave her icky shoes outside and immediately toss her clothing into the washer and jump into the shower and wash her hair before touching anything? Did she spray the door handle and where she walked? If not, then her mask is not going to help much so better to keep her mouth shut tight so no germs can enter it.
Okay. First the black woman has a mask on though it’s below her nose. Second, she’s not very close to the victim so nothing needed to be said. Third, the black woman over reacted, so what’s new. Fourth, the victim had on a mask AND face shield about as protected when out in public as you could be, so again nothing needed to be said. Lastly no Staples employees did anything to help her after the attack.
So a pox on everyone’s house. An unfortunate case of a white Karen running afoul of an angry black woman, and a bunch of millennials who can’t be bothered to be of assistance. But the fact that no one came to her aid will probably play well for her in court.
There is video. The victim is a frail old woman who had only a few months prior to the attack undergone a liver transplant. The attacker is a robust-looking, much-younger woman who most definitely initiated the physical confrontation.
Also, a dozen people mostly ignored the woman on the floor and it looks like she tried to trip the young woman when she was walking back through.
Watch the video. It’s not quite as cut and dried as you’re presenting it.
The proper approach would have been for this busybody woman to stay the proverbial six feet away and mind her own business. Or just stay home and have her husband do the shopping if she is so frightened of being around unmasked people.
I hate to see anybody attacked but men of my generation learned from an early age that you don't mess with strangers or you risk getting smashed in the mouth. The best approach when in public is to always mind your own business and avoid unnecessary confrontation.
Most women have never been in a fistfight or gotten punched in the face so some of them have a false sense of security and thus feel emboldened to walk up to a stranger and confront them. This woman learned a hard lesson.
Even if they had security guards roaming the store, would that have prevented the incident? I’ve heard stores tell security guards not to intervene with shoplifters. Would a security guard have physically intervened if he/she had witnessed this incident happening? Or would security guard simply be a witness when police did their reporting? In which case this woman still would have been attacked and still sustained the same injuries.
Yet another Karen who does not want to be responsible for the consequences of her actions.
Agree about ordinary caution near a stranger. And this is especially true during the hot summer months of George Floyd riots and demonstrations. She should realize that certain “protesters” don’t believe in age discrimination. Just because you have the right to run off your mouth, it doesn’t mean it is wise to do so.
They were both wrong. Still not Staples’s fault.
It was certainly unnecessary violence against a frail elderly woman; punish the young woman and dock her pay/taxes/social security/welfare/etc. until she has paid every penny, and not the store.
Staples has deep pockets. Her attacker doesnt.
Should not have let your mouth write checks you a$$ could not cash.
One out of every ten people you meet is dealing with stuff.
Out of those one out of every ten is having a really bad day.
Out of those one out of every ten is ready to go guano crazy if you push them.
So keep your mouth shut about things that are none of your business.
The older woman exercised extremely poor judgment, she initiated the conflict.
From the old National Lampoon Hour: two wrongs don't make a right, but 3 do.
“When you’re dumb, you gotta be tough.”
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