With the holiday season comes many traditions, memories, and needless frenzied spending. Few of these events can match Black Friday in which the holiday season “officially begins.” The day after Thanksgiving is traditionally marked by either (1) regret of eating so much (2) remembering why you only see some family members a handful of times a year or (3) waking up at 3am to make it to the store for its 4am opening, standing in line in freezing temperatures, and stampeding into a store to buy items that will probably end up forgotten within months (does anyone still have a tickle-me-Elmo?). However, anytime you have an incredibly large amount of people who are pumped full of caffeine, in competition with those near them, and a limited amount of goods, you have a recipe for disaster. 
Suing For Battery or Assault
It only takes one or two people to turn a crowd into a mob. This could lead to trampling, punching, shoving, and who knows what other forms of physical contact. When someone touches you, punches you, kicks you, etc. it is called a battery. This is in contrast to an assault, which is an act that causes another to apprehend an immediate harmful contact. However, there doesn’t need to be any actual contact. If there is contact, then there might be a claim for battery.
You could sue the person who caused the battery or assault, or you could try to sue the store. Additionally, if the assault or battery is particularly bad, such as someone beat you with a Laloopsy Doll, then the state could press criminal charges. The question then becomes, should you sue someone or press charges when you are injured within the mayhem of Black Friday?
Store Ran Out Of Lalaloopsy Doll Mittens Fluff N’ Stuff, I Want To Sue
Can you sue the store if they ran out of the one thing that you really wanted because you saw an advertisement for it on TV or in the newspaper? The answer is generally, no. The reason for this is most advertisements work in language specifying that the offer is limited or limited to what is in stock. Many stores use this tactic to bring people into their store with “door busters.” What this means is that the store will sell a limited number of goods at an incredible discount to try to entice shoppers into their store. However, once those goods are all purchased, the store is not under an obligation to sell the same good, or a similar good, at that same drastically reduced price.
Sadly, you might be left out in the cold, bidding on the toy, electronic, or clothing you want from a site like eBay.
Do you think a store should be liable if someone gets hurt during a stampede?
