PITTSBURGH – A Western Pennsylvania couple have sued Walmart after the wife-plaintiff suffered head and muscular injuries while shopping there, when a storage container allegedly fell from a shelf and struck her on the head.
Ebony Kirkland and Maurice Kirkland of Verona filed suit in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on Sept. 10 versus Wal-Mart Stores East, LP (doing business as “Wal-Mart Store No. 5339), of Bentonville, Ark.
“On March 5, 2019, at around 9:30 a.m., Ms. Kirkland entered Wal-Mart Store No. 5339 during normal business hours, for the purpose of purchasing medicine for her son and home supplies, including but not limited to storage containers. Kirkland entered the aisle for home storage with her cart, bent down and carefully retrieved a large, plastic, storage bin and a matching lid from the bottom aisle shelf,” the suit states.
“At that moment, from the highest aisle shelf, a large, plastic, three-drawer storage container that was improperly and carelessly placed, fell off the highest aisle shelf. The large, plastic, three-drawer storage container struck Kirkland’s left shoulder and fell to the floor with enough force to break into several pieces. Kirkland bent over and attempted to pick up one of the pieces of the large, plastic, three-drawer storage container that had broken on the floor. As Kirkland was bent over, a second large, plastic, three-drawer storage container that was also improperly and carelessly placed also fell off the highest aisle shelf.”
Since Kirkland was already bent over to pick up the first container’s pieces off the floor, she did not see the second container fall off the highest aisle shelf. The second container struck Kirkland on the top of her head, causing her vision to instantly become blurry and her to suffer pain in her head.
Kirkland filed an incident report with the Wal-Mart store manager and drove herself to UPMC East Emergency Department for medical treatment. Kirkland was diagnosed with an acute concussion, numerous musculoskeletal injuries and cervical paraspinous muscle spasms.
“As a result of her injuries, Kirkland lost significant amount of work for her job with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as a Veterans Integrated Service Networks for Healthcare for Reentry Veterans Specialist, in which she provides outreach and support to incarcerated U.S. veterans in state and federal prisons, to assist them with their transition back into the community,” the suit states.
For counts of negligence and loss of consortium, the plaintiffs are seeking damages in excess of the jurisdictional limits of arbitration and a trial by jury.
The plaintiffs are represented by Allison H. Greene and Elizabeth A. Chiappetta of Robert Peirce & Associates, in Pittsburgh.
The defendant has not yet secured legal counsel.
Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas case GD-20-009625
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com