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.
It will result in bag your own.
I don't stop at WalMart but even Sam's lets you take your stuff to your car in a basket. Couldn't she have done that if the bag was too heavy? Sam's doesn't even provide bags of any kind.
Bingo. There are so many factors to take into consideration. If a shelf fell in the store and killed her, then, yeah, liability. But, from the time of the injury to the time of death, there must be other elements involved.
Why have courts?
Why have the concept of liability?
There were other things involved bet surely the dead woman was not the one who was wholly culpable.
I am not a monkey, tough or not.
and as for required medical care...
It IS the same, the hangnail and a simple broken toe bone.
They both hurt, but they both can be adequately cared for at home, without involving expert medical professionals.
Yep, if the parasites can push it to that level.
Maybe the woman is a diabetic. Diabetics can lose a foot a leg or their life to a small infection on their foot. If she was a diabetic she probably knew the risk of a foot infection.
It is a phrase.
Don’t take it so hard.
If I called you a hard*** I am in no way referencing your posterior.
All that will come out in discovery.
Who could eat that LaChoy crap?
My husband is diabetic and I won’t let him cut his own toenails anymore. He always did a terrible job and just whacked away bring blood. He now has to go to a podiatrist every 3 months to get them cut. I threw a fit until he agreed because I didn’t want this to happen to him. A diabetic friend of mine first lost half a foot and then she lost her life.
She took a calculated risk and suffered the consequences. You are on the wrong side of this one. Sorry.
I know.
I could happen.
She went to the farking store for dinner.
Well all I can say is I hope you never my a mower, start it up and have the blade fall off the new mower and chop your foot off because YOU failed to make sure the blade was on tight, when that was somebody elses job.
After all, it is your responsibility.
my=buy
It was her time to go! The Lord called her home.
Surely you can see that!
(I know I know don’t call you Shirley :))
Yes, this. Her medical initial and subsequent treatment and her own home care for her injury is the question.
Of course I’m using logic, not ‘Greedy Lawyer/Plantiff 101’ speak.
Don't call me Frank ☺
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