[TX] [TX] How do I handle an injury settlement with a store?

Hello, I am Law Educator and I am pleased to assist you today with providing you the answers you are seeking for educational purposes only, and no attorney-client relationship is formed. Sometimes responses and replies take time, and we ask you to be courteous and patient to allow the expert to type answers to you and also to others.

What type of injury did your daughter suffer? How long did it take to heal? Any permanent injury, scarring, medical bills? How long was she in pain? Where was the security tag when it lodged in her foot? Did the employees know it was exposed?

What state are you in?

Under Texas premises-liability law (TX Civ Prac & Rem Code § 101.022), a retail store owes customers, who are “invitees,” a duty to use ordinary care to make its premises reasonably safe. That means the store must either remove a dangerous condition it knows or should know about or warn customers of the danger. To win or negotiate a claim you must show (1) a dangerous condition existed (the loose security-tag nail on the fitting-room floor), (2) the store had actual or constructive notice of it, (3) the store failed to take reasonable action, and (4) the condition caused your daughter’s injury. Photographs showing the dirty floor and the tag, plus your description that only two dressing rooms were open and one was visibly cluttered, help prove the store should have discovered and removed the nail during routine inspections.

Texas allows recovery for more than out-of-pocket medical bills. A child may claim past and future pain, mental anguish, physical disfigurement (scarring), and physical impairment. Parents may recover the medical expenses they pay on the child’s behalf. A puncture wound that caused a day of limping and leaves a possible permanent scar on a seven-year-old’s heel typically settles for $3,000–$6,000, not merely reimbursement of first-aid supplies. Even small permanent scars on hands, feet, or legs can bring an additional $1,500 to $3,000, depending on visibility and the child’s distress. If a physician documents the wound and opines that cosmetic treatment may be needed later, the value increases.

If you did not take your daughter to a doctor or urgent-care clinic as soon as possible and it has healed, it is likely too late to do so. The reason you should have taken her for treatment is that such a visit creates a contemporaneous medical record (and confirms her tetanus booster) and gives professional evidence about scarring. Photograph the injury every few days. If the scar remains noticeable after a few months, ask the doctor to note permanence and possible future treatment.

The general statute of limitations for personal-injury claims in Texas is two years (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003), but for a minor the clock is tolled until her eighteenth birthday. Parents, however, usually pursue the claim sooner to preserve evidence and avoid witnesses moving away.

Before negotiating, send a written demand letter to the store’s risk-management department or liability insurer. Describe how the accident happened, attach photos and the medical note, list damages (pain, any doctor’s charges, supplies, mileage), and state a dollar figure that leaves room to negotiate. Texas justice-of-the-peace (small-claims) courts handle claims up to $20,000, and filing costs are modest; if talks stall you can file suit there. A parent must sue as the child’s “next friend,” and any settlement of a minor’s claim generally requires court approval if it is over $10,000 or involves future medical needs, which you really do not have here. Texas courts often approve such settlements by placing the money in the court registry, a structured settlement, or a guardianship account until the child turns eighteen.

If the store still offers only $1,000, point out that (a) Texas law compensates pain and scarring separately from medical bills, (b) the wound left your child limping for more than a day, and (c) the scar may require cosmetic care in adolescence. Decline to sign a release until you have medical documentation and clearer information about scarring. Quite frankly, because there was no treatment, the scar is likely not going to be visible and will likely heal, and she is 7 years old, your claim is likely worth more in the $3,000 range.

Send the demand letter asking for $6,000 and negotiate with them to come to something close to $3,000. Please let me know whether or not you have any additional questions about this issue for me today.

Thank you!