Woman sues N.J. Staples after being attacked by customer over mask comment - see video

[left-of-center2012]

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.

“(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.

https://www.pennlive.com/nation-world/2021/08/woman-sues-nj-staples-after-being-attacked-by-customer-over-mask-comment.html
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Store video shows two employees (upper left, at 23 second mark) not helping after Margot Kagan is thrown to the floor. No customer goes to help her as she lies there. Margot Kagan reaches out from her position lying on the floor apparently asking for help to get up, but the employees appears to shrug her off)

[Hugin]

1. Let the lawsuits fly.

Should have been doing this all along.

It was high on the Right Wing priority list to render immune these businesses who wouldn't enforce the mandates. Fortunately, they lost the election in 2020.

Elections have consequences.

[Sherman A1]

3. Agreed

I hope the attacker is sued into the dirt.

[2naSalit]

2. Yeah, I'd be suing the shit out of them.

[yardwork]

4. The heartlessness of the employees is shocking to me.

They turned their backs on a frail elderly woman on the ground who was begging for help.

[sarcasmo]

10. The one employee went right back to work on the copier. Humans are vile.

[viva la]

5. Why is no one helping her?

The attacker walks by her again, and even then no one turns to help.

[Demovictory9]

12. sickening

[whathehell]

7. Is there no sound?

I'm not getting any.

[Hugin]

8. It's surveillance video.

They rarely have sound.

[whathehell]

16. Ok, thanks. n/t

[ShazamIam]

9. I am most disturbed by the charges, aggravated assault, not assault and battery. A trend that

started more than a decade ago, the trend to diminish and eliminate the crime of assault, which can be a verbal attack, and instead are claiming that personal assaults are, "free speech," and limiting prosecution to cases of battery but calling them assault.

It looks like a successful effort to legalize, assault, approaching and unleashing a verbal tirade against another person.

The reason for such a change is that when oppressing masses and working for creating and sustaining divisions, the various sides are to be allowed to verbally attack each other with no consequences. Humiliating and frightening people in public is demoralizing to the victim and that is the intention.

You can't even go shopping or for a walk and not expect that someone will feel free to launch a verbal attack.

Has anyone else noticed this now long running trend to banish the crime of assault and lighten the crime of battery?

[obamanut2012]

13. No, bec ause aggravated assault is worse than assault and battery

Aggravated assault involves serious injuries, and often the use of weapons, and is always a felony.

So no, no outrage from me. I'm glad they are counting these more serious.

And, nice bothsideisms! Well done!

[ShazamIam]

15. I guess we use different information sources. Where did I engage in bothersiderisms? sp% unknown

word.

[peggysue2]

11. The assault was bad enough

But the unwillingness of the employees to help the woman up is shocking. However, the legal suit may run into trouble bc in the vid, the woman appears to use her cane to poke at the angry customer. Not saying the attacker was right in what she did but an argument could be made that the woman with the cane made the first aggressive move.

And we're worried about incivility in DC.

It's everywhere.

[David__77]

14. That's a pretty short video.

The attacker was just leaving the area at the end of the clip. I can understand if employees were remaining vigilant to the possibility of more conflict until she left. I hope they called an ambulance quickly.