BURBANK : Survey Queries Public About Accident Suits

On Burbank’s San Fernando Road Wednesday afternoon, some were worried, some wanted to help, but when Chris Harris pulled out his microphone attached to a hidden tape recorder, they figured it was a setup.

“Can I ask you a question?” Harris would ask, as his subject was helping a woman into a nearby wheelchair.

Harris picked out 36 passersby to help him pick up a woman who apparently had fallen out of her wheelchair.

Then he asked them how likely they would be to sue a store after a falling accident if they received immediate attention and medical care.

“The bottom line is that most people who have seen someone fall are not going to want to get involved because they are afraid of getting sued,” said retailing consultant Dennis Murphy, whose company hired Harris. The company is trying to convince retailers that they can reduce lawsuits if they train their employees to work better with people who fall in stores.

The company is trying to gather proof to show store employees that if they take an active interest in helping a customer who has fallen, the number of lawsuits filed against them would drop.

“One lady gave me hell,” said Harris, who hadn’t noticed that he was being watched. She stormed up to him saying, “How can you let her lie there? Give me a hand,” he said.

Of those he interviewed Wednesday, 23 said they would not sue if they had received help from the store, eight would sue no matter what, and five were undecided.