How do I get the store's surveillance video?

Businesses generally won't hand over footage voluntarily before a lawsuit. What you can do is make sure it still exists when you can compel it.

Send a written preservation letter, immediately. It should identify the date, time, and location, request preservation of footage from all cameras with any view of the area — including approaches and adjacent aisles — and specify a window beginning well before the fall and extending after.

Why the window matters. Footage from before the fall is what establishes duration and what shows whether employees walked past. Many preservation requests ask only for the moment of the fall, and that footage proves the least.

Also request preservation of inspection and sweep logs, the incident report, employee statements, and maintenance records for the area.

If they destroy it after receiving notice, spoliation arguments become available — and an adverse inference can be more valuable than the footage itself.