Case Summary:
NEW JERSEY SUPERIOR COURT – WARREN COUNTY, NJ
A father and his two young daughters were shopping in ShopRite when the girls (ages 4 and 7) needed to use the restroom. The father stood approximately three feet from the ladies’ room and waited for his daughters to come out. The seven-year-old held the door open for the four-year-old while she walked out of the bathroom. As the four-year-old walked through the archway of the door, the seven-year-old let go of the door. While the door was closing, the four-year-old dragged her hand along the door and into the hinge, slicing off the tip of her right ring finger. Consequently, the four-year-old underwent plastic surgery to repair the finger. Plaintiffs alleged that ShopRite was negligent in failing to properly adjust and maintain the door check, the device which controls the speed at which the door closes. ShopRite argued that the door was in compliance with Code and did not cause the accident.
