Catching the ambulance

It took only a couple of days for the family of Jdimytai Damour, the famously trampled Wal-Mart worker from New York, to file a wrongful-death lawsuit against the retailing behemoth. The suit claims that Wal-Mart failed to provide sufficient security to handle the mob of Black Friday shoppers who descended on the Long Island store where Damour worked and literally was crushed to death by bargain-thirsty customers. But the suit also contends that store ads touting deep discounts "created an atmosphere of competition and anxiety" that led to "crowd craze." The suit says the store "engaged in specific marketing and advertising techniques to specifically attract a large crowd and create an environment of frenzy and mayhem." Now, I think it's fine to argue that security and crowd-control measures were lacking, but I think it's a bit much to chastise a business for trying to attract shoppers. Isn't that their raison d'etre? Whatever the case, I'm sure Mr. Damour's relatives will be financially comfortable for life when this is all over.