Couple Sues Trader Joe's Over Premises Liability Incident at Store

A married couple filed a premises liability matter against Trader Joe's Company, naming not just the grocery chain but also a specific store employee as a defendant in what appears to be an incident at one of the company's retail locations.

Farhad and Nora Zarifpour are the plaintiffs in the matter, which was logged as unfiled and unassigned on March 16, 2026. The case lists Trader Joe's Company as the primary defendant alongside Celine Cormier, identified as a store employee or manager, plus additional defendants not yet specified in the early filing record.

The naming of Cormier alongside the corporate entity is notable. Premises liability suits against retailers typically target the company itself; including an individual store-level employee or manager suggests the Zarifpours may be attributing some degree of personal responsibility to Cormier in connection with the underlying incident, whether related to store conditions, a failure to address a hazard, or another circumstance that led to alleged harm.

The matter was captured by Law.com Radar in Los Angeles County on March 16 as an unassigned filing, meaning it had not yet been assigned to a judge or courtroom as of that date. Details about the specific incident, the location of the Trader Joe's store involved, and the nature of the alleged injuries have not been disclosed in the early record.

Premises liability cases at grocery stores commonly involve slip-and-fall incidents, falling merchandise, or conditions that store management was aware of and failed to correct within a reasonable timeframe. Whether any of those circumstances apply here remains to be established as the case moves through the court system.

Trader Joe's, which operates without a formal public relations apparatus and rarely comments on pending litigation, had not issued any statement regarding the matter as of March 17.