Walmart Shopper Hurt While Buying Watermelon Wins $7.5M Verdict
PHENIX CITY, Ala. (AP) - An Alabama man who said he tripped and broke his hip while buying a watermelon at a Walmart store has won a $7.5 million verdict in his lawsuit against the retailer.
Court records show that Henry Walker on Wednesday was awarded the damages after a jury trial in Phenix City, Alabama.
Walker had sued Arkansas-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in 2015, saying his foot became trapped in a pallet beneath the watermelons as he reached for one.
In a Wednesday court filing, the company said the display wasn't dangerous, and that any negligence was Walker's fault. No one responded immediately to phone and email messages left at Walmart's headquarters Thursday.
Charles Gower, one of Walker's attorneys, tells The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer that Walmart should have covered the pallet so it couldn't entangle a shopper's foot.
(© Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)