Rice Proposes “Black Friday” Consumer Protection Legislation

On the heels of two dangerous promotional events, DA will take bills to Albany that add promo events and “black Friday” sales to state’s ‘nuisance’ laws

MINEOLA, NY – Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice is set to propose Tuesday sweeping changes to state law regulating consumer safety at promotional and retail events throughout New York State. Rice’s proposals mark the one-year anniversary of a fatal “Black Friday” stampede at a Valley Stream Walmart store. The proposals also come days after a chaotic, 3,000-person promotional event for a teen singer at a local mall left a police officer and several onlookers injured.

“These proposals put retailers and promoters on notice,” said Rice.  “We aren’t going to turn a blind eye to these events. We aren’t going to accept excuses for not knowing the rules or for not expecting the types of crowds we all know will be there this Friday. If your company doesn’t care about its consumers or employees and doesn’t plan for their safety, we’re going to come after you. We need these stores to take the appropriate and responsible crowd-control precautions during these sales and promotional event days.”

The legislation’s intent is to specifically codify these events and sales in the penal law, so that prosecutors will be able to use these laws to prosecute and deter corporations who engage in dangerous sales practices with little regard for the consumer or their employees. Right now prosecutors are left with few, if any, prosecutorial options when it comes to dangerous sales events, even in situations resulting in death or serious physical injury to a consumer.

Rice’s legislation adds promotional events and special sale days to the list of events identified under the state’s pre-existing criminal nuisance laws.  Criminal nuisance laws address situations in which a person knowingly or recklessly maintains a condition or event that endangers the safety of its participants. 

By adding promotional and sales events to the felony-level, first-degree criminal nuisance statute, typically used to target known drug houses, Rice’s legislation will make the most flagrant and dangerous violations of the law felony-level crimes that are punishable by up to four years in prison and/or fines of up to $10,000.  The most serious incidents must include serious physical injury to a person or physical injury to 10 or more people.

Rice’s bill would also add such events to the state’s misdemeanor, second-degree version of the state law, which is typically used to target illegal and unsafe street fairs or carnivals. It would be punishable by up to one year in jail and/or a $5,000 fine, and would be used when an event resulted in physical injury to a participant.

Rice’s legislation would also create a third-degree criminal nuisance crime for situations that do not result in injuries but still disregard appropriate safety planning.  An infraction of this law would result in a maximum of six months in jail and/or a $2,000 fine.

“If retailers won’t voluntarily put consumer safety ahead of their bottom line, then we will do it for them,” said Rice. “We want these sales to be robust, but more than anything, we want these sales to be safe.”

Rice is scheduled to speak with a bipartisan set of lawmakers over the next week to gauge interest in the legislation and to begin adding legislative sponsors to the bill.

“This is common sense legislation and I don’t expect it to get held up because of politics,” said Rice. “These proposals will make shoppers safer and I’m urging Albany to act quickly so that we can avoid senseless tragedies in our stores.”