Can You Sue Walmart if an Automatic Door Closes on You?

Yes. An automatic door that unexpectedly closes on a customer can potentially lead to a premises-liability, negligence, or product-liability claim.

Automatic doors are designed to detect pedestrians and remain open long enough for customers to safely enter or exit. When a door closes unexpectedly, fails to detect someone, moves too quickly, or otherwise malfunctions, it can knock a person to the ground or trap part of the person’s body.

Older adults and people with mobility limitations can be particularly vulnerable to serious injuries from an automatic-door accident.

When Could Walmart Be Responsible?

Walmart may potentially be responsible when the company knew or reasonably should have known the door was malfunctioning and failed to repair it, inspect it, disable it, or adequately warn customers.

California premises-liability law requires businesses controlling property to use reasonable care to keep customer areas reasonably safe. The California Supreme Court has explained that businesses may have constructive notice of dangerous conditions when reasonable inspections would have discovered them.

Evidence of previous complaints, prior door malfunctions, maintenance requests, inspection records, warning signs, or employee knowledge could therefore become important.

What Could Cause an Automatic Door Accident?

Potential causes can include malfunctioning presence sensors, improperly adjusted sensors, electrical problems, mechanical defects, maintenance failures, incorrect door settings, damaged components, or improper installation.

Determining the actual cause often requires more than simply looking at the door after the accident.

Maintenance records and expert inspection may help determine whether the problem developed over time or resulted from a defective component.

Walmart May Not Be the Only Potentially Responsible Party

Automatic doors are often manufactured, installed, serviced, or maintained by specialized companies.

Depending on the cause of the failure, an investigation may involve Walmart as well as a door manufacturer, installation company, repair contractor, maintenance contractor, property owner, or property manager.

If the door itself contained a defective product or component, California product-liability principles could also become relevant. California has long recognized strict product liability against manufacturers and, in appropriate cases, businesses participating in a defective product’s distribution chain.

What Evidence Should Be Preserved?

Video is particularly important because the door may appear to operate normally shortly after an intermittent malfunction.

Surveillance footage may show whether the door detected other customers, how quickly it closed, whether employees had difficulty with it earlier, or whether the accident occurred exactly as reported.

Service records can show previous repairs or complaints. Inspection records, incident reports, photographs, witness statements, and the identity of the automatic-door service company can also become important.

What Injuries Can Automatic Doors Cause?

Automatic-door accidents can cause falls, hip fractures, wrist fractures, shoulder injuries, knee injuries, head trauma, spinal injuries, cuts, bruising, and aggravation of preexisting conditions.

The severity of the injury and its effect on the person’s daily life can influence the damages involved in a personal injury claim.

Injured by an Automatic Door at Walmart?

Automatic-door cases can involve premises liability, maintenance negligence, product defects, and multiple corporate defendants.

Hillstone Law represents people injured on commercial properties throughout California. If an automatic Walmart door closed on you or otherwise malfunctioned and caused an injury, our attorneys can investigate who maintained the door, whether prior problems existed, and what evidence may establish responsibility.