A Walmart Customer Who Broke His Hip Buying A Watermelon Is About To Get Paid $7.5 Million
A Walmart customer who once broke his hip while buying a watermelon back in 2015 is about to receive a huge payoff from the company. According to AL.com, the Alabama resident named Henry Walker is set to receive $7.5 million after he slipped and fell while reaching for a watermelon at a Walmart in Phenix City.
After the incident, Walker sued Walmart for negligence and wantonness. He told the court that when he was trying to reach for a watermelon, his foot got caught in a wooden pallet on the floor, causing him to fall and fracture his hip. Walker's attorney, Shaun O'Hara, says that jurors who reviewed the security footage at the Walmart noticed that multiple people have gotten their feet stuck in the pallet in the same way that Walker did, something that likely helped his case a lot.
When the trial was all said and done, the jury awarded Walker $2.5 million in compensatory damages plus another $5 million in punitive damages.
"You don't expect to go into a grocery store walking fine on your two feet and come out on a stretcher," O'Hara said.
Walker, an Army veteran, apparently played basketball with friends at least three times a week before the fall. He now uses a walker to get around. O'Hara says that he hopes the verdict will encourage the retailer to require pallet guards to be used in all locations.
A representative for Walmart told Delish, "We are disappointed in the verdict. We appreciate the jury's service, however we believe that the damages awarded were excessive in light of the facts in this case. We plan to appeal."
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