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Woman sues N.J. Staples after being attacked by customer over mask comment
Pennlive ^ | 14 August A.D. 2021 | Anthony Attrino

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.


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: covid1984; karen; mask; myob; newjersey; staples
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To: lightman

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.


21 posted on 08/14/2021 8:48:53 AM PDT by Bearshouse
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To: lightman

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.


22 posted on 08/14/2021 8:48:59 AM PDT by bgill (.Which came first, the vax or the virus?)
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To: lightman

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.


23 posted on 08/14/2021 8:49:38 AM PDT by redangus
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To: HartleyMBaldwin

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.


24 posted on 08/14/2021 8:51:42 AM PDT by Tom in SFCA
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To: Bearshouse

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.


25 posted on 08/14/2021 8:52:44 AM PDT by Bearshouse
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To: lee martell

Watch the video. It’s not quite as cut and dried as you’re presenting it.


26 posted on 08/14/2021 8:53:52 AM PDT by redangus
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To: lightman
“I said, ‘you’re endangering everyone by not wearing your mask’

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.

27 posted on 08/14/2021 8:54:13 AM PDT by SamAdams76 (Give me a Pigfoot and a Bottle of Beer)
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To: lightman

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.


28 posted on 08/14/2021 8:55:40 AM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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To: qaz123

Yet another Karen who does not want to be responsible for the consequences of her actions.


29 posted on 08/14/2021 8:57:22 AM PDT by joma89 (Buy weapons and ammo, folks, and have the will to use them.)
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To: SamAdams76

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.


30 posted on 08/14/2021 8:58:52 AM PDT by caseinpoint (Don't get thickly involved in thin things.)
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To: Tom in SFCA

They were both wrong. Still not Staples’s fault.


31 posted on 08/14/2021 8:59:13 AM PDT by HartleyMBaldwin
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To: redangus

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.


32 posted on 08/14/2021 9:00:18 AM PDT by af_vet_1981 (The bus came by and I got on, That's when it all began)
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To: joma89
... be responsible for the consequences of her actions.

That would be the young woman who should be prosecuted and punished for elder abuse.
33 posted on 08/14/2021 9:01:42 AM PDT by af_vet_1981 (The bus came by and I got on, That's when it all began)
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To: SamAdams76
The proper approach would have been for the young woman to ignore her and not violently attack her.
34 posted on 08/14/2021 9:02:45 AM PDT by af_vet_1981 (The bus came by and I got on, That's when it all began)
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To: HartleyMBaldwin

Staples has deep pockets. Her attacker doesnt.


35 posted on 08/14/2021 9:04:39 AM PDT by lowbridge
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To: lee martell
... the girl’s reaction was way out of proportion.

Concur; way too many violent people in this world.

Evil lurks.
36 posted on 08/14/2021 9:04:40 AM PDT by af_vet_1981 (The bus came by and I got on, That's when it all began)
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To: lightman
So you started it.

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.

37 posted on 08/14/2021 9:05:54 AM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (I refuse to be afraid. I refuse to bow. I refuse to take any job I do not wish to. So BUZZ OFF!)
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To: Tom in SFCA
And how was that robust young woman supposed to know the other lady just had a liver transplant?

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.

38 posted on 08/14/2021 9:10:58 AM PDT by Night Hides Not (Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad! Remember Gonzales! Come and Take It!)
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To: lightman

“When you’re dumb, you gotta be tough.”


39 posted on 08/14/2021 9:12:01 AM PDT by Basket_of_Deplorables (Convention Of States is our only hope now! Desantis 2024!!!)
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To: Night Hides Not
And how was that robust young woman supposed to know the other lady just had a liver transplant?

She could see she was a frail elderly white woman, and became enraged.
40 posted on 08/14/2021 9:14:35 AM PDT by af_vet_1981 (The bus came by and I got on, That's when it all began)
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