Posted on 08/28/2013 5:42:49 PM PDT by kevcol
A Plattsmouth woman's widower has sued Wal-Mart and the maker of its plastic bags, alleging an overfilled bag given to her at a Bellevue store broke, and, in a strange twist, led to her death.
William Freis of Plattsmouth said his wife, Lynette, went grocery shopping April 16, 2010, at the Wal-Mart Supercenter on 15th Street and the cashier gave her one plastic bag for two 42-ounce cans of La Choy and a 2-pound bag of rice.
On her way to the car, the bag broke and one of the cans of La Choy fell on her right foot, breaking her big toe and causing a deep cut, the lawsuit says.
William Freis' attorney, Gage Cobb, said that led to an infection.
Despite multiple rounds of antibiotics and two surgical procedures, Lynette Freis' condition declined and infection spread throughout her body, which led to hospitalizations "and ultimately resulted in her death on March 12, 2011," according to the lawsuit.
Freis originally sued Arkansas-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the distributor of its plastic bags, Missouri-based Bunzl Distribution, and the manufacturer, Hilex Poly Co. of South Carolina, in Sarpy County District Court.
Late last week, the case was transferred to U.S. District Court in Omaha.
The wrongful death suit alleges Wal-Mart was negligent for failing to properly train its employees to prevent them from overfilling grocery bags and knowing when to double bag a customer's groceries.
And, the suit says, the defendants provided Lynette Freis with a defective grocery bag.
Her estate is seeking more than $656,000 in medical expenses, plus an unspecified amount for her pain and suffering and funeral and burial expenses, as well as her husband's loss of consortium.
Neither Wal-Mart nor the other defendants has filed an answer to the allegations yet, but Wal-Mart attorney Heidi Guttau-Fox sought the move to federal court.
Reached Tuesday, Wal-Mart spokesman Randy Hargrove extended condolences to Lynette Freis' family.
"Customer safety is a top priority, and we take it seriously any time an injury is reported in one of our stores," he said.
Hargrove said the company is investigating the allegations and will respond appropriately in court.
How did you know my name was Frank? Spying on me again? :]
No Maam
There is no mention of HOME CARE.
maybe we deserve what we get when we accept anything.
Gnight Frank!
I knew you were going to say that! :D
I knew you could take a joke.
Yes, that is precisely the point.
I will soon have hernia surgery. A lot of my recovery will depend on my following proper post-surgery home care routines, taking my antibiotics, not lifting heavy stuff, etc.
The point people on the thread were making is that a significant portion of the responsibility for a successful recovery for me, for example, following my hernia surgery rests in my own hands.
So, if the woman didn’t properly home care her toe infection, that could be a factor if this action goes to a civil suit.
I plan to take darn good home care following my hernia surgery. :)
All this will come out in discovery, Of course any Medical folks will shift blame to the plaintiff if there is a record of them not following “procedures”.
Wait till we get Obamacare.
Right, no personal responsibility, she has no need to think that maybe it is too much for one bag? She has no need to think for herself? How sad that some people always deny personal responsibility. I wonder how long she and her bereaved husband delayed proper treatment for her injury before the infection set in, useful information not included in the story. But then it doesn’t matter blame the big corporation they have deep pockets.
That would be my responsibility. Sorry. It would be.
I’d have to seriously consider that position as well. If a Wal-Mart employee put the items in the bag, and the bag was a WalMart bag, one could well argue that a customer could assume Walmart would know best what weight their own bags could handle.
So if the bag Walmart gave broke, and caused the injury, they could be held liable.
I once had a 2 liter bottle of soda escape and start rolling down the street...”
Oh my. Talk about a fizzy situation.
I always have my groceries put in paper bags and I’m amazed at how many sackers have no idea how to put things in something that has a square bottom. Then I set the bags in a box in my trunk and carry the box in.
Apparently some checkers haven’t taken any math in school. Usually keep a sharp eye on them and try to arrange things at check-out so the like things are together. But last time he put the carton of eggs in the bottom and then some heavy cans on top. By the time I got home 4 of the eggs were cracked. So we had scrambled eggs for dinner.
Fifty-something is "elderly"? OMG
I should be clear: I’m not blaming the poor dead woman on the one hand or defending the health care she received on the other. I don’t know the facts.
If something falls on my toe, I’m a guy and I might well wait too long to get it treated, which could be a factor.
As for 0bama/Robertscare I’m not looking forward to that train wreck. I’m trying to make it onto Medicare in a few years, which by that time will be even more of a costly disaster, probably.
You need to get a grip on the concept that sometimes it's not anyone's fault; it's just your time to go. The husband is grief-stricken and he has a greedy sumbatch for a lawyer. That's all. Hope the case is thrown out.
Medicare is toast.
Obama gutted it.
I am in the same boat.
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