A trip to the hardware store or grocery store is usually a fairly uneventful activity. One finds the items on one’s list, pays at the register, and heads back home. However, one Florida man’s trip to Walmart a few years ago ended up changing his life.
This man was walking in one of the store’s main aisles when he slipped on a sign that had apparently come off of a display. As a result of his fall, this man now suffers from a “popeye deformity.” This is reportedly a lifelong injury and results in “abnormal bulges in his arm” similar to the bulges in the arms of the famous cartoon character Popeye.
This man filed a lawsuit against Walmart; he recently won the case and will receive a sizable settlement. While the man’s lawyer only sought $600,000 in damages, the jury awarded the man $1.3 million. According to a news report, the jury determined that Walmart was “90 percent at fault for the man’s injuries.”
It is unclear exactly how much this man’s injuries impact his ability to perform day-to-day activities, but any injury that results in a lifelong defect will have significant impacts on a person’s life. A lifelong defect may make it difficult for a person to continue working in the same job and could make it challenging to perform daily functions, meaning that additional help may be required.
In addition, if a person suffers from a lifelong injury, he or she will likely require regular medical care for the rest of his or her life. Additional medical care, lost wages and home care can cost seriously impact a person’s financial stability.
If a person realizes that an injury resulted from another’s negligence, he or she may want to look into filing a premises liability suit, as this man did.
Source: WPBF.com, “Man who suffers from ‘popeye deformity’ after Walmart fall awarded $1.3M,” Feb. 8, 2013
Our firm handles slip-and-fall accidents similar to the one described in this post. To learn more about our practice, please visit our premises liability webpage.