Jeffrey Hyman, a Denver attorney who represents plaintiffs in falling merchandise cases, said that in his nine court trials against Wal-Mart he has obtained $9 million from juries. The latest figures gleaned from court records show that accidents cost Wal-Mart alone $410 million in 1994, up from $275 million in 1992. The retailers decline to say how much they pay in lawsuits from people hurt by falling merchandise each year, saying the figures are confidential business information. Wal-Mart, Home Depot and other retailers have successfully defended many of these suits, but often they pay confidential sums to settle or are ordered by juries to pay multimillion-dollar verdicts. Remedies are often left to the civil courts, which have recently been flooded with hundreds of damage suits. While there are many rules and regulations designed to protect employees from workplace accidents-indeed, an entire federal government agency is devoted to worker safety-consumers get little consideration. And even when a fatal or serious accident occurs, fines, if any, are minimal. These retailers, experts say, operate in an industry in which stores are seldom inspected for safety violations and penalties are paltry. But our overall track record is very good.”īut safety experts and lawyers representing injured shoppers say these superstores often flout their own safety rules, sacrificing consumers’ safety by stacking heavy and dangerous objects up to 20 feet above the floor without restraining devices. “We wish these particular accidents never happen. “When you consider we have 100 million customers a week, the number of falling-merchandise cases is very small,” said Les Copeland, a spokesman at Wal-Mart’s headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. “Accidents are just that, they’re just accidents,” said Jerry Shields, a Home Depot spokesman, noting that the number of customers injured from falling goods are a fraction of the 30,000 transactions recorded each week at a single Home Depot outlet. Officials with Wal-Mart, Home Depot and several other warehouse-style retailers say their stores are reasonably safe, that accidents are rare, and that they’re constantly striving to prevent mishaps. But thousands of consumers who have ventured into these retail centers to run routine errands have encountered tragedy instead. The mushrooming of retail superstores-where forklifts prowl aisles, stacking pallets of merchandise from floor to ceiling-has brought lower prices and convenience to cities and small towns across America. Only last month, a 41-year-old Connecticut man was killed at his neighborhood Home Depot when a 2,000-pound pallet of landscaping timbers fell and pinned him to the ground. The incidents have been piling up for at least 15 years, since boxes of Final Touch fabric softener toppled from a shelf at a Sam’s Club store near Tulsa, Okla., in 1985, killing a woman who was shopping for cleaning supplies.ĭespite numerous lawsuits and millions of dollars in jury awards and settlements against various discount retailers and warehouse superstores, the toll continues to mount. "He was a huge-hearted person, very positive minded person, very giving and very nurturing.Penturff’s accident was just one of thousands of injuries and deaths involving shoppers that resulted from falling merchandise in warehouse-style stores, according to a Times examination of court records from around the country. "Even before his cup is full, he's helping people here," Ofori told the outlet. In an interview with WUSA 9, Oral Ofori, a longtime friend of Gato, said that he moved to the US nearly a decade ago to pursue opportunities to support his family in Ghana. Margaret Smith, a Home Depot spokesperson, told PEOPLE that the company is "heartbroken by the loss of our friend" and described Gato as a "happy, friendly and caring person." "The driver of the delivery truck heard the loud crash, noticed the deceased under the forklift, and immediately summoned emergency medical services and police."Īn investigating is ongoing, according to police, and the medical examiner will conduct an autopsy to "determine the cause of death." The news release also said that police do not suspect criminal activity in this case. "Preliminary, detectives determined Gato was operating the forklift unloading supplies from a delivery truck when the forklift fell, trapping Gato," the news release said.
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