Wal-Mart injury claim moved to federal court in Philadelphia

A personal injury complaint filed against Wal-Mart by a Darby, Pa. couple has been moved from Delaware County Common Pleas Court to federal court in Philadelphia.

King of Prussia, Pa. attorneys Patrick J. McDonnell and Analisa Sondergaard, who represent the defendant, filed the Notice of Removal Sept. 15 with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The plaintiffs in the case, Delaware County residents Marcia Garbutt and Jamie R. Laughlin, first filed the complaint Aug. 22 against retail giant Wal-Mart.

In their civil action, the husband and wife allege that Marcia Garbutt became injured on Aug. 15, 2009, after she fell on a slippery substance at the company’s store in Glenolden, Pa.

As a result of her fall, the suit claims, Garbutt suffered injuries including a fractured brachial head right upper extremity, right elbow and wrist sprain and strain, tendonitis in her right wrist, carpal tunnel syndrome in her right hand, dequervain’s tenosynovitis of her right hand, third finger right hand sprain and injuries to her nerves and nervous system.

She also allegedly suffered great physical pain as well as emotional distress.

The lawsuit claims that Garbutt had to expend various sums of money on medical treatment, and that she has been unable to attend to her regular duties and activities since the accident.

In the original complaint, Garbutt was seeking judgment against the defendant in a sum in excess of $50,000, plus attorney’s fees and other legal costs.

Jamie R. Laughlin had a loss of consortium count in the original complaint, whereby he, too, seeks the same amount of damages for what he claims has been the deprivation of his wife’s companionship.

The couple has demanded a jury trial.

The federal case number is 2:11-cv-05814-ER.