Caterer sues wholesale club after stack of tables falls on her

A Philadelphia woman says she sustained severe and painful injuries after getting struck

by a stack of tables at a Bucks County wholesale club retail store, according to a suit filed at the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.

Gina Ipri seeks damages in excess of $50,000 on two counts of negligence against Sam's Club's Langhorne, Pa., location and its parent company, Sam's East, Inc., with headquarters in Bentonville, Pa.

According to the complaint, Ipri was working as a caterer with a third party vendor, Crossmark Holdings, Inc. at the Langhorne store on Oct. 4, 2012. At the end of her event, Ipri began to help clean up her station by packing up the folding tables.

The claim says that a store employee told Ipri to place the table with the others, which were packed tightly on top of each other with a bungee cord wrapped around the bundle. When Ipri unhooked the bungee, the complaint says, the stack unexpectedly collapsed on top of her, striking her head and neck and causing her to fall to the ground.

After the incident, the claim says, another store employee informed Ipri that the same tables had fallen earlier that morning. The complaint says that the store was well-aware the tables were placed in a hazardous condition but failed to warn Ipri of the danger.

The store had a responsibility to ensure that the tables were safely stored and fix any improper and dangerous conditions. The defendants and its employees disregarded Ipri's safety and the safety of others lawfully on the premises, the claim says.

As a result of the accident, Ipri has sustained severe head trauma resulting in bouts of vertigo, headaches, difficulty with memory and intermittent dizziness, plus back and spinal sprains. The injuries have forced Ipri to pay mounting medical expenses while experiencing a diminished capacity to earn income. The suit says she continues to suffer from ongoing pain, mental anguish and inability to fully enjoy life's pleasures.

The plaintiff is represented by Christy Adams of Adams Renzi Law.

The case ID is 14090722.