Premises Liability Verdict Against Wal-Mart

Steve and his associate, Barbara “BJ” Knapp -- in her very first civil jury trial -- represented a Plaintiff on a premises liability against Wal-Mart.

The Plaintiff was shopping at the Neighborhood Wal-Mart in Poplar Bluff. As he entered the check-out lane, a sidekick—loaded with magazines, candy and weighing over 40 pounds—fell on the Plaintiff. The weight of the sidekick pulled Plaintiff to the ground causing right suprascapular and long thoracic nerve injury. Plaintiff underwent suprascapular nerve decompression and neurolysis as well as long thoracic nerve neurolysis surgery. Plaintiff suffered a permanent injury to the nerves in his right shoulder, arm and hand.

Employees of Wal-Mart admitted that there were no safety logs for the sidekick since the store opened in 2015. They also admitted that although the manufacturer calls for sidekicks to have a bumper bar installed, they were not used at the Neighborhood Market. Additionally, a root cause analysis was never completed after the sidekick display fell on the Plaintiff.

After 1 1/2 hours of deliberations, the jury came back with a verdict of $470,000.00 and assessed Plaintiff with 30% fault.