Posted on 11/02/2005 7:54:36 PM PST by Clive
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) - Hardware retailer Home Depot has found itself in a sticky situation, defending a lawsuit filed by a man who said the chain's Louisville, Colo., store ignored his cries for help after he fell victim to a prank - and was glued to a toilet seat.
Bob Dougherty, 57, of Nederland, Colo., said he became stuck to a bathroom toilet seat on which somebody had smeared glue on Oct. 30, 2003 and felt "tremendous panic" when he realized he was stuck.
"They left me there, going through all that stress," Dougherty told the (Boulder) Daily Camera newspaper.
"They just let me rot."
His lawsuit, filed Friday said Dougherty was recovering from heart bypass surgery at the time and thought he was having a heart attack. A store employee who heard him calling for help informed the head clerk via radio but the head clerk "believed it to be a hoax," the lawsuit said.
Home Depot spokeswoman Kathryn Gallagher said she could not comment on pending litigation.
The lawsuit said after about 15 minutes, store officials called for an ambulance. Paramedics unbolted the toilet seat and while wheeling a "frightened and humiliated" Dougherty out of the store, he passed out.
The lawsuit said the toilet seat separated from his skin, leaving abrasions.
"This is not Home Depot's fault," he said.
"But I am blaming them for letting me hang in there and just ignoring me."
It's remotely funny when I think of an ex husband getting stuck - but I agree, not funny when I think of my dad trying to get help for 15 minutes -- even though several days later he would have had a good laugh over it. But he was Irish, he would have embellished the story in some hysterical manner.
If he was sitting on a toilet in the display area, why for?? Going for a test drive??
I agree with others who have stated that the circumstances are suspicious, i.e., maybe this was a case of BYOG (Bring your own Glue) ...
Thank you very much. He's almost 80 and hasn't been to the hospital since he was 12. He'll be fine, I'm sure. (Can you tell I love my Dad? :-) Thanks for the thoughts and prayers.
Name one common glue-in-a-tube that won't dry out in the open air of a moist public bathroom, and yet capable of bonding a human instantly to a toilet upon contact.
Please.
I want to buy a bunch of it.
Just so you all know. My dh and I went down to take our camper to a victim of Rita and on the way back, we couldn't find a gas station that was open and I really needed to pee but we found a Home Depot in south eastern Texas and they have great bathrooms.
lol! Yeah, an ex-husband would be different, I guess.
I can't believe some one sat on a public seat with out checking it out
Yeah, right. I always sit on a public toilet without looking at the seat. NOT! This smells of a setup by the "victim".
"Home Depot was in the wrong here.."
Yep...they are. Probobly one of their know nothing pimplyfaced teen employees thought it would be a great gag.
Really. And, have you ever gone to a store and 'tried-on' a toilet seat before you bought it.
Would you think it was funny if it was your Dad in there stuck to a toilet seat because some moronic teenagers wanted to play a cruel prank on him?
---
Right, but he should go sue the teenagers then for sticking him to the seat, not Home Depot.
They left him there to rot? How can he sue if he rotted? I don't get it. :)
I don't just look down at the seat I will wipe it off with toilet paper. And if they have one of those paper seat covers I will put that on as well. I know my local Home Depot has those seat covers.
HD could NOT forsee anyone putting glue on a toilet seat; heck, this putz may have done it himself to give him grounds for a lawsuit.
I think it is wrong that someone could walk into a public restroom and put glue on the seat and it will end up being Home Depots fault. What happens when some clown does that to a city toilet?
In the wrong for doing what exactly?
Taking 15 minutes to call for help?
It takes 15 minutes to get help there normally.
The person responsible is the one who put the glue on the seat. Home Depot and the man who got stuck are the victims.
We'll all pay for it.
I don't know about your city, but I don't go anywhere near a city-owned john. Yuch! If they are cleaned once a decade, we consider ourselves lucky.
It seems that every employee I pass asks if he can help me. When I do ask where something is they don't tell me where it is, they actually escort me to the exact location where it can found. And when checking out if there are more than three people in line they open up another check out.
I always thought that all HDs were like this. I guess I was wrong.
A childish prank, and perhaps some oversight on Home Depot's part. But come on! We really are a cry baby, sue crazy culture. This man doesn't deserve a cent.
Cherish your local HD, FRiend. I'm here to tell you that VERY few are like yours.
I also think he will collect handsomely from HD, not because they took too long to take him seriously, ( which could be their fault) but because there was a toilet seat (in the HD washroom, I take it) that had Krazy Glue smeared on it (while this is not technically HD's fault, one of the HD employees could have done it as a prank.) HD ironically will wind up paying for THAT. Especially since the guy fainted.. I say settle for a quarter mil.
That's what you get for going to a Home Depot when there's a Lowe's right next door!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.